LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  NJ. 

The  George  J.  Finney 

Collection  of  Shaker  Literature 

Given  in  Memory  of  His  Uncle 

The  Rev.  John  Clark  Finney 

Class  of  1907 


ZooKS 

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1^47 


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■S 


THE 


MANIFESTO, 


A  DECLARATION  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  AND  PRACTICE 


THE   CHUUCH  OF  CHRIST 


BY     JOHN     DUNLAVY 


"Then  shall  ye  return,  and  discern  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked;  betweea 
him  that  serveth  God  and  him  that  serveth  him  not." 
"We  are  made  as  the  filth  of  the  world — the  off-scouring'  of  all  things  unto  this  day." 

:  "HI  njni  OTp  n^bx  ninm  ninxi  cd^js  n^inj  x^ni — Ezek.  ii.  lO. 


PRINTED  AT  PLEASANT-HILL,  KY.,  MDCCCXVIII. 


NEW-YORK: 

,BPRINTED    BY    EDWARD    O.    JENKINS, 
No.    114    Nassau    Street, 

1847. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The  publishers  of  this  second  edition  of  the  Manifesto  would  in- 
form the  reader  that  it  is  not  pretended  to  be  a  revised  copy  of  the 
first.  But  as  the  author  has  deceased  since  the  publication  of  the 
original  work,  some  small  corrections  have  been  made  by  those  of  his 
friends  who  best  knew  his  mind  and  feelings,  and  which  are  in  accord- 
ance with  a  request  made  by  him  before  his  decease. 

Some  improvements  might  probably  have  been  made  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  work,  by  dividing  long  chapters  and  paragraphs,  and  also 
by  a  division  of  very  lengthy  sentences  ;  but  as  such  alterations  might 
have  a  tendency  in  some  instances,  to  obscure  the  author's  meaning, 
few  attempts  of  the  kind  have  been  made.  A  few  notes  have  been 
added  for  the  reader's  information  ;  but  in  general  the  original  has 
been  strictly  followed. 

Believing  that  this  valuable  work  will  be  acceptable  to  honest  in- 
quirers after  Truth,  in  the  present  fluctuating  state  of  religious  opin- 
ions, and  the  serious  awakenings  which  at  present  prevail  among  many 
classes  of  people,  the  publishers  now  present  this  edition  to  the  pubr 
lic,  earnestly  soliciting  their  candid  perusal  and  their  serious  reflec- 
tion upon  the  all-important  subjects  herein  contained,  which  have  been 
so  ably  discussed  and  so  clearly  illustrated  by  the  truly  pious  au- 
thor. 

Those  who  may  wish  for  further  information  on  these  subjects  and 
of  the  religious  community  from  which  they  emanated,  are  hereby  re- 
ferred to  a  work,  entitled,  "  The  Testimony  of  Christ's  Second  Ap- 
pearing," and  to  a  small  duodecimo  volume,  entitled,  "  A  Summary 
View  of  the  Millennial  Church." 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 

New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  1847, 


PREFACE. 


Or  making  many  books  there  is  no  end,  and  much  study  is  a 
weariness  of  the  flesh.  The  writing  of  so  many  books  on  various 
religious  subjects,  may  appear  irksome  to  some,  and  lead  them 
to  conclude  that  nothing  will  be  gained  by  reading  any  more, 
for  matters  never  come  to  such  a  concluding  point  as  to  remove 
uncertainty  and  promote  union  and  common  agreement  among 
professors.  And  among  the  various  sentiments  industriously 
propagated,  how  shall  the  inquirer  know  with  whom  to  cast  his 
lot?  But  admitting  that  little  is  yet  effected  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  multitude,  this  is  no  reason  that  men  should  cease  to  search 
after  the  hid  treasure ;  for  ever}?-  one  who  believes  there  is  truth, 
must  acknowledge  that  it  is  attainable.  And  what  if  considera- 
ble labour  be  expended  in  acquiring  it? 

The  first  chapter,  containing  a  very  concise  essay  on  the  Being 
of  God,  was  not  occasioned  by  the  expectation  that  sentimental 
atheism  is  generally  or  extensively  prevalent ;  although  it  is 
known  to  have  its  advocates  in  places,  who  are  not  backward  in 
attempting  to  infuse  the  poison  into  others.  It  was  therefore 
considered  not  improper  to  state  a  few  particulars  for  the  relief 
and  strength  of  honest  people,  who  might  be  beset  with  its  cer- 
ruptions.  Unbelief  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  infidelity  towards 
an  ordinary  revelation  and  the  correctness  of  the  Christian  faith, 
is  more  prevalent ;  yet  neither  was  the  second  chapter,  which 
relates  to  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures,  designed  as  an  attempt  to 
convince  mankind  by  the  dint  of  argument  in  the  letter ;  but 
rather,  together  with  the  former,  as  a  prelude  to  the  following 
work,  that  it  may  give,  at  least,  an  honest  exhibition,  or  rather 
declaration,  of  the  basis  on  which  the  practical  work  of  the  Gos- 
pel, to  which  it  relates,  is  built ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  that  a  few 
useful  reflections  might  be  presented  to  the  thinking  part  of  man- 
kind. 

The  following  sheets  have  been  written  in  great  plainness  and 
familiarity;  as  usefulness  and  information  have  been  more  studied 
than  elegance  of  style  or  even  systematic  order.  I  have  made  a 
free  use  of  the  original  languages,  particularly  the  Greek,  fre- 
quently using  an  appeal  to  the  learned  for  the  correctness  of  the 
amendments  of  the  common  reading.  Few,  if  any,  amendments 
are  offered  to  the  translation  from  the  Hebrew  scriptures,  without 
the  support  of  Hebrew  critics  in  one  view  or  another:  and  I  have 
built  no  doctrine  on  a  criticism  drawn  from  the  original  text,  bdt 


VI  PREFACE. 

used  it  only  for  elucidation.  For  it  has  not  been  mj  object  to 
provoke  to  a  contention  of  letters,  but  to  minister  truth  to  those 
who  desire  it.  And  when  we  have  opened  the  faith  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  shown  wherein  we  and  others  have  been  in  error,  it  is 
not  done  for  contention  or  to  provoke  others  to  resist.  And 
should  any  be  inclined  to  do  so,  they  may  consider,  that  we 
feel  very  little  inclination  to  contend  with  dry  systematics,  but 
to  inform  those  who  seek  salvation.  If  we  should  ever  make  a 
reply  of  any  considerable  labour  or  extent,  we  shall  first  look  to 
see  something  of  more  weight  and  reason  than  those  things 
which  have  been  written  heretofore ;  as  the  malicious  slanders 
of  some,  the  fabricated  aspersions  of  others,  and  the  disingenu- 
ous attacks  of  B.  W.  Stone  would  likely  never  have  been  noticed 
in  public,  only  for  his  peculiar  standing. 

By  treating  a  variety  of  subjects  nearly  connected,  and  yet  not 
closely  enough  to  be  discussed  together,  sundry  repetitions  occur, 
which  have  unavoidably  swelled  the  volume  to  a  greater  size. 
But  considering  that  many,  not  to  say  most  readers,  would  feel 
the  force  of  evidence  better,  by  having  it  laid  open  freely  on  one 
subject  at  once,  than  by  being  referred  from  one  to  another,  I 
have  used  freedom  in  that  respect,  the  increased  size  of  the  book, 
and  censure  of  speculating  critics,  notwithstanding.  One  subject 
is  generally  enough  to  digest  at  a  time ;  and  a  man  who  buys  a 
book,  is  no  more  obliged  to  read  it  through  and  digest  it  all  at 
once,  or  on  a  sudden^  than  he  who  kills  a  beef,  is  obliged  to  eat 
it  in  a  day. 

To  have  found  the  everlasting  Gospel,  the  perfect  work  of  God, 
is  one  thing,  and  to  be  perfected  m  the  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence of  the  same  is  another^  Of  the  first  we  speak  confidently, 
having  no  remaining  doubt.  But  as  to  the  second,  our  profi- 
ciency is  only  according  to  our  time  and  travel.  The  everlasting 
Gospel  is  onlj?^  in  its  increase  on  the  earth,  as  yet  far  short  of  its 
meridian  j  and  my  experience  only  in  minority.  If  therefore  a 
much  clearer  elucidation  of  many  subjects  in  the  following  work 
should  hereafter  appear,  it  will  be  no  disgrace  to  the  Gospel,  in 
the  one  faith,  one  cross,  one  self-denial,  and  one  Christ.  And" 
my  junior  age  and  short  experience  in  the  Gospel  is  a  sufficient 
apology  for  the  imperfection  which  in  time  may  appear  in  the 
following  work;  or  rather  which  appears  already  ;  for  were  the 
whole  work  to  be  reprinted  immediately,  I  can  see  many  places 
which  could  be  stated  in  much  greater  perfection.  And  it  is  our 
privilege  to  grow  in  the  knowledge  of  God.  Or  should  any  cal- 
culation of  time  which  depends  on  the  letter,  and  not  cfearly  ex- 
pressed, hereafter  be  more  correctly  and  satisfactorily  opened  as 
the  light  increases,  it  will  not  be  inconsistent  with  our  present 
faith.  Had  the  work  been  inspected  by  those  who  are  farthest 
travelled  in  the  faith,  it  would  no  doubt  have  been  much  more 
perfect :  but  they  were  at  too  great  a  distance^ 


COITEITS 


PART    I. 

Page. 

On  the  Being  of  God 1 

Of  the  Truth  of  Revelation 17 

Of  God,  in  a  Compendious  View  of  his  Attributes  ....         23 

Of  the  Nature  of  God's  Decrees ;  or  what  a  Decree  is        .  .         .31 

Of  Man  as  the  OiFspring  of  God,  and  of  Responsibility  .         .         .33 

Of  the  Gospel  offers  and  Man's  capability  of  complying ;  and  whether  God's 

Decrees  at  all  intercept  its  free  operation 43 

Of  Justification  by  Faith  and  Obedience ;  and  of  Imputation       .         .        .    62 
The  Subject  continued,  by  inquiring  into  the  Nature  and  Design  of  the 

Death  of  Christ,  and  whether  it  is  imputed  to  us  for  Justification      .         77 
The  Subject  continued,  in  relation  to  the  Legal  Sacrifices  and  other  Mat- 
ters   98 

Objections  against  the  foregoing  Doctrines,  stated  and  obviated       .         •       118 
The  Doctrine  of  Election,  and  the  Foreknowledge  of  God  .         .         .157 

The  Subject  continued  .........       171 

Of  the  Times  and  Seasons,  or  accepted  Time  and  Day  of  Salvation     .        .195 

PART    II. 

The  Appointed  and  Correct  Order  of  God  for  the  Confession  and  Forgive- 
ness of  Sins         .         .         ........         203 

The  Subject  continued,  as  it  respects  the  Work  of  God  in  the  Gospel        .     215 

Evidences  relating  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  mainly  Negative        .         .        236 

More  Negatives.     The  Absence  of  Christ.     Christians  do  not  commit  Sin    243 

Some  objections  against  the  sinless  life  of  a  Christian  answered,  and  the 

point  confirmed  .........         252 

Inimitable  Love  and  Union  prevail  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  are  mani- 
fested in  a  joint  Inheritance  in  things  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual    .     265 

Without  the  Cross  of  Christ  no  power  over  Sin.     The  Abomination  that 

maketh  desolate,  or  Man  of  Sin        . 277 

The  order  and  Works  of  Generation  do  n  ot  appertain  to  Christ  or  his 

Church 283 

Man-iage  a  Civil  Right  and  Carnal  Relation  of  the  World,  therefore  does  not 

belong  to  the  Church  of  Christ 297 

Christ's  People  not  of  this  world  .        ,        .        .        .         -        .         305 


VIU  CONTENTS. 

PART    III. 

Of  the  Resurrection;  more  particularly  as  it  relates  to  the  Person  of  Jesus 

Christ .327 

The  Subject  continued  ;  with  some  attention  to  prophetic  Scriptures  .  335 
The  Resurrection,  with  more  immediate  relation  to  the  Saints  .  .  345 
Of  some  Scriptures  incapable  of  a  proper  acceptation  on  the  principle  of 

their  relating  to  the  resurrection  of  the  animal  body  .         .         .353 

The  Resurrection  the  same  as  Regeneration ;  and  a  Progressive  Work  366 
Of  the  Last  Judgment ;  by  way  of  Appendix  to  the  foregoing  Chapters     .     377 

P.ART    IV. 

A    LETTER. 

Of  Freedom  in  Rehgious  Conversation 411 

Free  and  Friendly  Observations  on  the  Sentiments  and  Practice  of  the  Su- 
perscribed, and  the  Subjects  of  the  Revival  ....        420 

The  Subject  continued,  with  farther  remarks  on  the  writings  of  the  Super- 
scribed         445 

Further  observations  and  corrections ;  together  with  sundry  matters  per- 
taining to  the  Revelation  of  Christ  in  his  everlasting  kingdom        .        456 


PART     I. 

ON  THE  DECREES   OF  GOD 


CHAPTER     I. 


ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 


The  hel'ief  of  tlie  existence  of  God,  of  his  character,  and  the  relation 
which  subsists  between  God  and  men,  is  the  foundation  and  spring  of 
all  religion.  The  existence  of  God  is  proved,  in  the  first  place,  by 
the  consent  of  all  nations  ;  and  the  argument  is  corroborated  by  that 
consent  increasing  and  becoming  more  confirmed,  as  any  people  be- 
come more  enlightened  in  general  and  consistent  knowledge  ;  so  that 
it  may  be  fairly  concluded,  that  none,  in  any  enlightened  land,  deny 
the  being  of  God  from  real  belief ;  but  that  those  who  do,  only  use 
such  denial  as  a  pretext  for  giving  latitude  to  their  own  desires,  and 
not  being  subject  to  the  will  of  God,  whose  nature  and  ways  they  do 
not  love,  being  lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God. 

But  that  the  belief  of  the  being  of  God  prevails  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  is  an  undisputed  fact.  Now  this  belief  was  either  taught 
by  nature  or  revelation,  these  being  the  only  two  methods  of  gaining 
such  belief.  If  the  first ;  that  belief  is  either  true,  or  nature  is  a 
false  guide,  and  therefore  no  more  to  be  trusted  ;  accordingly  the  ne- 
cessity of  revelation  becomes  unavoidable,  or  man  must  be  forever  in 
uncertainty,  and  existing  truth  forever  unknown  ;  which  is  absurd. 
But  if  nature  is  true,  teaching  that  God  is,  the  point  is  proved,  and 
nature  is  a  helper  to  revelation.  But  if  the  belief  of  the  being  of 
God  be  said  to  be  through  revelation  from  God,  that  saying  acknow- 
ledges that  God  IS. 

And  that  God  doth  exist,  is  farther  proved  by  the  existence  of  the 
things  which  are  seen.  For  the  existence  of  that  which  is  seen  and 
otherwise  directly  meets  the  senses,  is  not  denied,  being  self-evident. 
But  that  which  really  exists,  is  either  a  necessary  existence  or  pro- 
duced by  another.  For  it  cannot  be  both ;  because  a  created,  or 
produced,  necessary  existence  would  be  an  absurdity,  an  impossibili- 
ty j  for  a  necessary  existence  includes  the  idea,  or  the  attribute  of 
independence,  and  therefore  also  of  self-existence  and  self-govern- 
ment. But  no  material  or  visible  being  possesses  these  attributes, 
2 


2  ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 

Again  ;  a  necessary  existence  is  necessarily  what  it  is,  there  being  no 
previous  or  separate  being,  power  or  agency,  to  cause  it  to  be  this  or 
that.  It  is  therefore  necessarily  unchangeable.  But  no  visible  being 
possesses  this  attribute.  A  necessary  existence  is  necessarily  from 
everlasting  and  without  any  beginning,  or  initiation  into  existence  ; 
for,  to  suppose  a  time  when  there  was  no  existence,  is  to  deny  exist- 
ence altogether,  contrary  to  self-evident  and  conscious  fact ;  for  no 
cause  can  produce  an  effect  equal  to  itself,  much  less  superior,  and 
nonentity,  or  no  cause,  could  never  produce  an  effect  to  be  the  cause 
of  all  other  things.  A  necessary  being  is  necessarily  perfect  and 
infinite,  there  being  no  supposable  objection  to  the  necessary  or  self- 
existence  of  an  infinitely  perfect  being  which  will  not  equally  militate 
against  all  necessary  existence  of  the  most  limited  character  or  attri- 
butes ;  and  there  is  no  superior  or  previous  power  to  set  bounds  to  a 
primary  and  necessary  existence.  But  existences  are  extant  and  evi- 
dent to  our  senses,  none  of  which,  thus  in  the  reach  of  our  senses  or 
subject  to  our  immediate  contemplation,  exhibit  or  possess  the  attri- 
butes of  a  necessary  self-existent  being  ;  they  are  therefore  all  de- 
pendent on  God,  a  necessary,  self-existent,  infinitely  perfect  Being, 
whose  wisdom,  power  and  other  attributes  are  displayed  in  his  works 
of  creation,  providence  and  grace.  On  this  principle  the  existence 
of  God  is  clearly  proved  to  a  demonstration.     But  further  : 

What  is  here  stated  is  not  intended  to  contradict  this  truth,  that 
revelation  and  the  light  of  nature  agree  to  support  the  belief  of  God's 
existence.  For  as  the  belief,  or  knowledge  of  God's  existence,  was 
received  by  man  in  his  first  creation,  he  has  never  been  able,  through 
all  the  windings  of  his  disobedience,  to  erase  the  impression  from  his 
heart ;  however  he  may  have  corrupted  or  transformed  it  into  vain 
notions  ;  while,  in  the  mean  time,  the  revelation  of  God  has  not  been 
altogether  wanting,  which  has  still  renewed  the  impression,  and  the 
light  of  nature  and  reason  have  borne  witness  to  the  fact,  arguing 
from  the  works  of  God  in  his  creation  and  providence.  "  Because 
that  which  may  be  known  of  God  is  manifest  in  them  :  for  God  hath 
showed  it  to  them.  For  the  invisible  things  of  Him  from  the  creation 
of  the  world,  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  [contemplated]  by 
the  things  which  are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead, 
that  is.  Deity." 

It  is  vanity  to  plead  that  the  belief  of  God's  existence  may  be  the 
fruit  or  workings  of  the  imagination.  For  the  imagination  is  the 
imagery,  or  power  of  forming  on  the  mind  the  imagery,  of  things 
which  do  exist ;  and  though  this  imagery  may  be  transformed  into  a 
thousand  corrupt  and  inconsistent  shapes,  it  always  proves  the  ex- 
istence of  the  original,  and  the  imagination  can  never  extend  so  far 
as  to  a  nonentity  or  annihilation,  there  being  no  prototype.  And  if 
the  mind  infers  the  existence  of  God  from  the  contemplation  of  things 
which  are  seen  to  exist,  there  is  a  correct  testimony  of  nature  that 
God  is.  Thus  false  notions  of  God  among  mankind,  though  formed 
according  to  their  corrupt  inclinations,  who  have  departed  from  the 
true  God,  prove  the  existence  of  the  true  God  ;  and  a  false  worship, 
or  worship  offered  to  idols,  proves  the  propriety  of  worship  offered  to 
the  true  God  according  to  his  own  appointment,  which  has  been  the 
original  instigation  of  that  impious  worship  of  idols,  through  the  sub- 


ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  3 

version  and  ignorance  of  the  human  mind.  Thus  the  Israelites,  be- 
ing taught  of  the  true  God  to  offer  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices  to 
him,  and  to  praise  him  in  the  dance,  as  at  the  Red  Sea,  when  they 
turned  to  their  idol,  offered  the  same  worship.  But  this  iniquitous 
conduct  was  so  far  from  condemning  sacrifices  and  dancing  in  the 
worship  of  God,  that  it  really  supported  them  both,  and  both  alike. 

In  like  manner,  before  the  true  Christ  did  actually  appear,  the  im- 
agination could  receive  no  impression  of  his  character  and  works,  for 
the  want  of  an  original,  although  much  had  been  said  in  prophetic 
language  by  that  Spirit  who  knew  him,  which  is  all  made  plain 
enough  in  the  event  of  its  accomplishment,  and  stands  as  an  abiding 
monument  of  the  existence  of  that  Spirit,  whom  we  call  God.  But 
after  Christ  appeared  there  could  be  false  Christs  in  plenty  ;  for  the 
imagination  had  then  found  an  original.  Thus  all  the  incoherent 
and  contradictory,  coi'rupt  and  insufficient  schemes  and  professions 
of  Christianity,  conclusively  argue  the  propriety  of  Christian  wor- 
ship and  the  truth  of  primitive  Christianity.  And  the  outcry  of 
many  to  find  the  true  and  perfect  way,  argues  the  propriety  and  ori- 
ginality of  that  faith  which  views  Christianity  as  the  true  and  perfect 
way  of  God,  saving  the  people  who  have  it  from  all  sin  and  criminal 
imperfection. 

The  common  argument  that  nature  produces  all  her  works  without 
the  acknowledgment  of  any  pre-existing  cause  or  being  besides,  is 
very  lame  ;  too  much  so  for  any  man  who  is  of  sound  mind  to  depend 
on  it,  unless  for  the  sake  of  warding  off  conviction  and  living  after  his 
own  corrupt  will.  For,  in  the  first  place,  it  lacks  acknowledged  data. 
There  are  no  principles  to  be  stated  which  command  the  approbation 
of  common  sense.  And  without  these  no  argument  can  be  support- 
ed ;  for  it  is  vanity  to  undertake  to  convince  a  man  of  sense,  unless 
the  argument  be  grounded  on  principles  which  he  either  acknow- 
ledges, or  cannot  deny  without  violating  common  sense  and  sacrificing 
his  character  as  a  reasonable  man.  But  there  are  no  such  principles 
from  which  to  argue  that  nature,  abstractedly  from  God,  produces  all 
the  beings  and  works  which  we  see,  and  with  which  we  are  daily  con- 
versant. It  remains  to  be  proved  that  God  doth  not  exist  before  the 
I  above  argument  can  be  valid. 

On  the  contrary;  it  is  abundantly  evident  that  material  nature  can 
of  herself  produce  nothing  which  has  the  appearance  of  actual  opera- 
tion or  power.  She  is  indued  with  a  eertain  order  of  production,  in 
each  part,  according  to  its  own  line  or  species  ;  but  turn  her  out  of 
that  particular  line,  and  her  operations  become  abortive,  or  ineffec- 
tual, which  proves  that  all  her  operations  proceed  from  a  superior 
power.  For  there  is  no  effect  without  a  cause,  the  atheist  himself 
being  judge,  and  no  effect  can  exceed  the  cause,  or  even  equal  it. 
All  the  works  of  nature  therefore  depend  on  a  power  superior  toman, 
her  pre-eminent  boast  for  intelligence,  wisdom  and  art.  For  no  liv- 
ing child  of  nature,  not  even  man  in  his  utmost  degree  of  wisdom, 
who,  by  the  acknowledgment  of  the  atheist  himself,  possesses  intelli- 
gence above  all  others,  can,  by  his  own  contrivance,  or  wisdom,  pro- 
duce his  own  likeness,  or  even  the  smallest  particle  of  animal  life  in 
the  best  formed  matter  :  nature,  therefore,  independently  of  a  supe- 
rior cause,  cannot  create  living  beings.     If  men  are  capable  of  pro- 


4  ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 

pagating  their  own  species,  this  depends  on  a  law  whi-ch  none  of  them 
have  been  able  to  develope,  which  proves  that  the  capability  is  the 
product  of  superior  power  and  wisdom.  For,  were  this  power  within  f4 
the  compass  of  the  wisdom  of  men,  they  could  explain  the  principles  ■• 
to  satisfaction  ;  as  well  as  the  artist  can  those  of  a  watch.  But  man 
in  this  law  has  no  superiority  over  other  animals,  each  after  its  kind 
being  indued  with  a  like  capability.  And  were  this  law  within  the 
compass  of  man's  wisdom,  or  intelligence,  it  would  not  accountfor  his 
origin;  for  the  cause  is  always  prior  to  the  effect:  and  so  of  all  the 
other  parts  of  creation.  The  argument  is  therefore  good,  that  all 
the  laws  and  operations  of  nature  necessarily  depend  on  another 
cause,  which  is  prior  to  nature,  and  also  superior,  even  incomprehensi- 
ble. For  in  strict  propriety  no  effect  can  be  produced,  unless  by  a 
superior  cause.  To  talk,  therefore,  of  the  absurdity  of  believing  in 
an  incomprehensible  Being,  called  God,  as  the  atheist  disputes,  only 
shows  his  own  ignorance  and  impiety. 

Doctor  Benjamin  Rush,  after  his  laboured  and  faithful  inqmry  into 
the  cause  of  animal  life,  very  pertinently  proceeds:  "Should  it  be 
asked,  what  is  that  peculiar  organization  of  matter,  which  enables  it 
to  emit  life,  I  answer,  I  do  not  know.  It  is  true,  the  votaries  of 
chemistry  have  lately  attempted  to  imitate  it ;  but  no  arrangements 
of  matter  by  their  hands  have  ever  produ.ced  a  single  living  fibre,  nor 
have  any  of  their  compounds  produced  a  substance  endowed  with  the 
properties  of  dead  animal  matter.  Lavoisier  laboured  in  vain  to  pro- 
duce that  simple  animal  substance  we  call  bile.  That  the  human 
body  is  composed  of  certain  matters  which  belong  to  the  objects  of 
chemistry,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  their  proportions  and  manner 
of  aggregation  are  unknown  to  us." 

"  The  great  Creator  has  kindly  established  a  witness  of  his  un- 
searchable wisdom  in  every  part  of  his  works,  in  order  to  prevent  our 
forgetting  him,  in  the  successful  exercises  of  our  reason." 

That  there  are  existences,  some  active  and  some  inactive,  is  not  to 
be  denied  ;  but  these  existences  argue  as  much  in  favour  of  the  exist- 
ence of  God  as  a  pre-existing  cause,  as  of  nature  producing  her  own 
works  independently  of  him  ;  not  to  say  much  more,  when  we  look 
at  the  order  and  harmony  which  exist  among  the  works  of  creation, 
adapting  every  part,  as  far  as  we  are  able  to  comprehend  the  whole, 
to  the  end  for  which  it  is  created  ;  and  Christians  can  see  and  com- 
prehend these  subjects  as  tnjiy  and  as  perfectly  as  the  sons  of  inde- 
pendent nature.  Here  are  an  order  and  harmony,  the  cause  of  which 
none  of  these  sons  of  independent  nature  can  describe,  or  even  dis- 
criminately  nominate,  without  having  recourse,  directly  or  indirectly, 
to  that  being  whom  we  call  God.  Moreover,  the  undeniable  facts  of 
the  fleeting  state  of  all  earthly  existences,  both  animate  and  inani- 
mate, and  not  only  of  the  fleeting  and  transient  state,  but  also  their 
uncertainty  and  subjection  to  a  thousand  incidental  causes  of  destruc- 
tion— none  of  the  animal  part  being  able  to  retain  their  present  state 
of  existence  according  to  their  c^n  choice,  and  none  having  in  them- 
selves the  power  of  continuance  independently  of  choice — render  the 
notion  of  self-existence,  or  necessary  existence,  or  independence  in 
them,  too  absurd  and  preposterous  to  obtain  a  place  among  men.  For 
a  necessary,  self-existent  being,  not  perfectly  master  of  self-govern- 


ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  5 

ment  and  self-preservation,  is  as  great  an  absurdity  as  an  intelligent 
being  not  conscious  of  his  own  existence.  Neither  is  there  any  such 
being  as  is  called  nature  independent  of  the  creatures  or  productions, 
or  separate  from  them,  to  which  these  sons  of  nature  can  point,  or 
show  any  traces,  to  prove  its  existence  to  men  of  reason.  But  their 
adorable  nature  is  dependent  for  her  existence  on  the  fruit  of  her  own 
womb  ;  (if  any  such  being  be  supposed  ;)  which,  therefore,  must 
necessarily  exist  previously  to  her  existence,  and  be  the  creators  of 
their  own  creator. 

Besides,  those  sons  of  nature  can  assign  no  approved  or  good  reason 
for  the  existence  of  those  transient  beings,  particularly  of  the  rational 
part,  whose  mental  powers  indicate  (in  their  very  constitutional  exist- 
ence, and  earnestly  reach  after)  an  endless  duration  ;  I  say  no  good 
reason  for  their  existence,  seeing  they  have  to  resign  it  again  in  so 
short  a  period  and  be  no  more,  which  is  the  inevitable  consequence 
of  the  notion  of  no  God,  and  is  also  acknowledged  by  the  atheist. 
That  nature  must  be  cruel  indeed  to  her  sons.  But  the  belief  of  the 
being  of  God,  and  particularly  as  it  embraces  Christianity,  nainisters 
full  relief  on  that  subject,  by  bringing  life  and  immortality  to  light 
by  the  Gospel. 

The  atheist  scoffs  at  the  argument  drawn  from  the  order  and  har- 
mony which  appear  in  creation,  to  prove  that  God  is,  and  that  he  is 
intelligent,  wise  and  good.  But  all  his  scoffing  and  misrepresentations 
will  never  take  away  from  the  eyes  of  thinking  beholders,  the  visible 
effects  of  wisdom  and  goodness  in  the  order  and  harmony  which 
appear  in  creation,  all  parts  being  adapted  to  their  proper  purposes, 
not  excluding  the  convenience  and  comfort  of  the  inhabitants  for  the 
time  being.  Without  extending  our  thoughts  to  the  various  parts  of 
the  planetary  system,  which  receive  the  enlivening  rays  of  the  sun, 
placed  in  the  midst  of  the  whole,  we  may  contemplate  with  ease  the 
earth  on  which  we  live,  which  is  in  the  view  of  our  senses,  and  the 
subject  of  our  daily  experience,  and  there  see  every  thing  adapted  to 
the  support  and  comfort  of  animal  life,  from  man  the  most  intelligent, 
and  therefore  the  most  important,  down  to  the  meanest  animal  within 
our  survey. 

But  the  atheist  obstinately  insists  on  a  principle  not  granted,  not 
proved,  not  possible,  that  if  God  be  immutably  good,  his  creatures 
cannot  suffer  any  thing  evil,  or  at  all  disagreeable  ;  hence  he  objects 
to  the  active  employments  in  which  xaasx  are  necessarily  engaged  to 
procure  their  support.  This  principle  supposes  a  man  incapable  of 
transgression,  which  is  neither  granted,  proved,  nor  possible,  unless 
he  could  be  equal  to  his  Creator,  which  is  impossible,  because  the 
effect  can  in  no  case  equal  the  cause  in  actual  production.  This  is 
true  in  nature,  and  on  the  principles  of  natural  reason  and  experience  ; 
without  troubling  the  atheist  with  revealed  mysteries  which  he  so 
much  abhors  :  nature  cannot  produce  an  instance.  It  also  supposes 
that  no  benefit  can  be  obtained  by  a  painful  experience,  which  is 
equally  false,  as  all  people  of  sober  reflection  can  witness. 

The  atheist  also  scoffs  at  the  indication  of  endless  existence  consti- 
tutionally in  man,  as  though  the  argument  stood  on  this  principle, 
that  every  man  will  obtain  what  he  desires.  But  he  changes  the 
ground  of  argument ;  the  inextinguishable  indication  of  endless  exist- 


6  ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 

ence  as  really  exists  in  tlie  constitution  of  man  as  tlie  desire  of  happi- 
ness, and  no  power  can  eradicate  it,  even  in  the  imagination.  It  lias 
been  argued  that  this  as  properly  proves  the  endless  future  existence 
of  beasts  as  of  men,  for  that  they  as  really  look  for  it  and  desire  it. 
Truth  is  not  to  be  rejected  for  any  of  its  necessary  consequences  ;  if 
the  endless  future  existence  of  the  beasts  be  thus  proved,  let  them 
have  it ;  that  will  npt  prevent  the  endless  life  of  men.  But  that  there 
is  any  real  prospect  or  contemplation  of  a  future  existence  in  that 
part  of  the  creation  called  brutal,  is  not  proved.  They  all  appear  to 
have  a  dread  of  present  sufferings,  and  cautiously  to  avoid  death  ;  but 
that  will  not  prove  the  prospect  of  futurity. 

The  atheist  contests  the  being  of  God,  and  man's  being  his  creature, 
because  man  was  created  subject  to  many  miseries,  or  capable  of 
becoming  subject ;  making  no  account  of  an  acknowledged  and  irre- 
sistible truth,  that  happiness  is  the  more  consummate,  and  that  men 
appreciate  it  the  better,  when  preceded  by  the  contrary,  or  contrasted 
with  misery.  It  is  therefore  in  no  wise  inconsistent  with  infinite  wis- 
dom, power  and  goodness  in  God,  that  man  was  created  capable  of 
subjecting  himself  to  miseries  of  his  own  procuring,  that  he  may  learn 
the  better  to  appreciate  his  own  happiness  when  he  is  delivered. 
And  those  distressing  miseries  which  the  atheist  objects  against  the 
being  of  God,  as  Creator  and  Governor,  to  which  man  is  subjected 
above  other  animals,  only  argue  his  greater  worth  and  the  greater 
degrees  of  enjoyment  to  which  his  constitution  points  in  the  event : 
for  the  capability  of  great  sufferings  indicates  the  capability  of  great 
happiness.  And  Christians  are  witnesses  for  themselves,  (and  they 
are  the  best  judges,  having  experienced  both  conditions,)  and  can 
show  the  fruits,  which  are  sufficient  evidence  to  reasonable  men,  that 
they  have  more  real  happiness,  in  the  present  tense,  than  those  who 
reject  the  faith  of  Christ.  In  vain  does  the  atheist  object  that  the 
greater  part  of  men  are  appointed  to  irrecoverable  and  endless  misery. 
Christianity  doth  not  teach  so  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  that  none  will 
fail  of  final  and  eternal  happiness  who  do  not  lose  it  by  their  own 
voluntary  choice,  while  it  is  yet  in  their  reach  and  they  know  the  way. 

The  atheist  ungenerously  ranks  all  religions  on  one  scale  ;  not  con- 
sidering like  a  man  of  reason,  as  he  professes  to  be,  exclusively  for- 
sooth, that  all  false  religions,  (all  which  contrast  with  the  Christian,) 
argue  in  confirmation  of  the  true  ;  not  only  because  false  religions, 
or  counterfeits,  are  an  evidence  of  the  existence  and  truth  of  the 
genuine,  but  also  because  Christianity  hath  long  since  prophesied  that 
such  would  be.  But  no  religion  will  stand  but  that  which  comports 
with  sound  reason. 

But  after  all  the  objections  of  the  atheist  against  the  being  of  God 
as  man's  Creator  and  Governor,  they  are  easily  retorted  on  himself; 
for  these  visible  evils,  of  which  he  complains,  prevail  in  the  world,  and 
the  proof  cannot  be  destroyed.  "  The  world,''''  says  he,  "  is  a  necessary 
agent. ''^  If  so,  it  is  either  intellectual  and  provident,  or  it  is  not ;  if 
not,  and  it  is  the  cause  of  all  things,  (according  to  his  doctrine,)  it 
has  communicated  to  man,  and  in  some  sort  to  other  animals,  that 
which  it  doth  not  itself  possess,  neither  any  thing  equivalent :  which 
is  impossible  ;  for  the  effect  is  always  inferior  to  the  cause.  But  if 
the  material  world  be  intelligent,  or  nature,  or  the  universe — which- 


ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  7 

ever  is  the  necessary  agent  and  cause  of  all  things,  the  producer  of 
man — it  must  be  cruel  indeed  to  have  brought  man  into  being  to  be 
perplexed  and  tormented  as  he  is,  during  his  existence,  without  the 
least  prospect  or  intimation  of  a  reparation  in  a  better  state  ;  but 
though,  as  the  atheist  says,  the  worst  of  men  are  commonly  the  arbiters 
of  the  ivorld,  and  those  whom  fortune  loads  with  her  favours^  and  conse- 
quently the  best  of  men  the  most  exposed  to  common  evils,  yet  there 
is  no  hope  of  having  matters  adjusted  in  another  life.  This  is.  inex- 
pressibly more  unreasonable,  cruel  and  unrighteous,  than  the  belief 
of  God  and  his  works,  who  will  bring  all  things  to  order,  and  give  the 
upright  man  a  life  of  endless  felicity.  In  vain,  therefore,  may  the 
atheist  cavil  against  the  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ,  whom  God  gave  to 
be  a  leader  and  a  guide  to  his  people,  (I  do  not  say  suff'ering  to 
appease  an  angry  God  or  satisfy  offended  justice  ;  this  doctrine  doth 
not  belong  to  the  Gospel,)  or  of  the  sufferings  of  his  apostles  and  other 
ministers,  who  were  leaders  of  those  whose  sufferings  are  to  eventuate 
in  a  greater  good  and  better  appreciated.  If  God  suffers  these  things 
to  be,  they  are  not  in  vain.  They  work  for  us  afar  more  exceeding 
and  elernai  weight  of  glory.  Christianity,  therefore,  is  the  most  con- 
sistent and  righteous,  and  atheism  the  most  unreasonable  and  unjust. 
"  The  world,''''  says  the  atheist,  "is  a  necessary  agent. ''^  And  again  : 
"  The  universe  is  a  cause,  it  is  not  an  effect ; — the  world  has  always 
heen ;  its  existence  is  necessary;  it  is  its  own  cause.''''  The  necessary 
existence  of  a  first  cause  is  unavoidably  acknowledged  by  all ;  for,  to 
suppose  the  first  cause  to  be  created  or  produced,  would  be  to  place 
a  cause  prior  to  the  first,  which  is  absurd.  The  necessary  existence 
of  any  first  cause  or  agent  being  admitted,  includes,  with  the  same 
facility  of  mind  and  reason,  the  existence  of  infinite  power,  wisdom, 
and  every  other  perfection.  For  no  reason  can  be  given  why  a  Being 
of  infinite  power,  wisdom,  and  every  other  perfection,  should  not 
necessarily  exist,  which  would  not  equally  (not  to  say  more  so)  mili- 
tate against  the  necessary  existence  of  a  being  imperfect.  The  neces- 
sary existence,  therefore,  of  God,  infinitely  perfect,  is  admitted  with 
as  much  facility  and  simple  reason  as  the  necessary  existence  of  the 
universe,  supposing  it  to  be  a  self-existing  agent.  There  is  nothing, 
therefore,  unreasonable  in  the  belief  that  God  is,  and  that  he  is  the 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him.  But  there  is  something  very 
unreasonable  in  atheism,  that  nature,  (for  nature,  the  world,  the 
universe  and  matter  are  all  confounded  and  considered  as  one  by  the 
atheist ;)  I  say,  that  nature  should  be  the  necessarily  existent  parent 
of  men,  independent  and  self-existent,  and  should  introduce  them 
into  existence  in  the  midst  of  unavoidable  sufferings  in  body  and 
mind,  (for  men  have  intelligent,  provident  and  reflecting  minds,  and 
we  are  obliged  to  believe  it,  although  we  can  neither  see  nor  compre- 
hend them,)  and  cannot  supply  them  with  a  portion  to  make  them 
comfortable,  either  in  this  life  or  the  life  to  come — for  they  desire, 
they  intensely  reach  after  an  endless  life,  and  no  reasoning  can  pre- 
vent them  :  it  is  incorporated  with  their  existence.  Whence  these 
dreadful  and  shocking  disappointments  and  miseries  to  the  human 
race  .?  Doth  intelligent  and  just  nature  (and  nature  must  be  intelli- 
gent, or  not  the  parent  of  intelligent  man)  bring  men  into  existence 
to  suffer  all  these  things  for  nought,  and  then  cease  to  be  forever  ? 


8  ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 

For,  according  to  atlieism,  there  can  be  no  sin,  no  transgression  in 
man — he  necessarily  doetli  whatever  lie  doeth — lie  hath  no  choice  in 
his  conduct.  A  reasonable  man  need  not  be  told  that  atheism  is 
unreasonable — is  unjust.  So  false  is  the  futile  and  ungenerous  cayil 
of  the  atheist,  that  religion  excludes  and  rejects  reason,  and  ihatfailh, 
in  reli'^'ion,  is  consent  without  evidence. 

But  it  is  proved  that,  according  to  reason,  a  necessary  agent  is 
necessarily  perfect ;  but  nature  is  imperfect  in  all  her  works,  and  un- 
able to  make  out  the  road  to  perfection,  even  to  make  her  children 
perfect  according  to  their  kind,  but  man,  the  noblest  part  of  her  pro- 
ductions, must  be  left  more  exquisitely  wretched  than  all  the  rest ; 
ever  in  pursuit  of  something  permanently  to  fill  his  mind  and  can 
never  find  it,  and  she  can  point  out  no  practicable  method  to  cure  him. 
We  are  therefore  compelled  by  reason  to  admit  of  the  being  of  God, 
and  our  faith  is  not  consent  without  evidence.  I  will  not  deny  that  God 
and  his  works  are  greatly  illustrated  by  revelation  from  that  God  who 
is  superior  to  all  our  reason,  and  from  whom  ours  is  only  an  emana- 
tion of  his  own ;  but  revelation  is  so  congenial  with  reason  in  man, 
that  the  honest  are  readily  gained  to  the  faith,  where  revelation  is 
fairly  and  justly  exhibited  to  view  in  those  who  have  it. 

The  atheist  objects  to  the  being  of  God  because  he  is  said  to  pun- 
ish a  rebellious  peoj)le  or  nation.  But  do  not  the  most  kind  and  af- 
fectionate parents  punish  refractory  children  by  way  of  chastisement } 
And  is  it  not  acknowledged,  by  the  atheist  himself,  that  the  best  of 
governments  punish  rebellious  subjects,  even  to  cutting  them  off,  for 
the  good  of  the  community,  when  they  become  such  a  nuisance  as  to 
require  such  severity  .?  Yea,  he  says  they  do  it  of  necessity.  If, 
therefore,  it  be  related  of  God,  that  he  hath  cut  off  some,  or  even 
many,  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  it  argues  nothing  against  his  exist- 
ence or  his  goodness,  for  it  is  all  done  for  the  procuring  and  securing 
of  a  greater  benefit.  And  even  those  who  have  been  cut  off,  or 
afflicted  with  the  greatest  punishments  known  by  man,  if  they  have 
not  made  a  full  and  final  rejection  of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  are  not 
out  of  the  reach  of  eternal  life  and  peace.  I  know  this  is  not  acknow- 
ledged by  those  who  confine  the  work  of  God  in  the  Gospel,  to  the 
narrow  limits  of  this  life  ;  but  it  accords  with  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  as 
shown  in  its  place. 

As  for  the  monstrous  affair  relating  to  the  sin  of  David,  king  of 
Israel,  and  the  seventy  thousand  slain  by  the  pestilence,  the  objector 
hath  surely  never  impartially  considered  the  subject  in  its  connection. 
David  sinned  indeed  ;  and  was  chastised  by  the  destruction  of  the 
people,  his  subjects;  but  they  had  sinned  also  as  a  people  ;  for  the 
anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Israel  before  David  numbered 
the  people,  not  by  caprice,  as  the  atheist  speaks,  but  on  account  of 
their  iniquities,  against  which  his  displeasure  is  as  necessary  as  his 
existence. 

I  know  the  atheist  objects  that  it  is  incompatible  with  the  existence 
of  God,  possessing  the  perfections  which  are  attributed  to  him,  that 
man  should  be  capable  of  transgression  at  all,  and  accordingly  he 
ascribes  every  evil  or  improper  action  in  man  to  the  immediate 
agency  of  God,  who  necessarily  imposes  it  on  every  man  to  do  this 
and  that:   (for  he   denies  the  possibility  of  a  choice,  or  freedom,  in 


ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  9 

God  or  in  man,  whether  man  be  the  son  of  God  or  of  nature.)  But 
such  arguing  is  weak  in  the  man  who  is  exclusively  areasoner  ;  for  that 
man  does  transgress  and  is  liable  to  go  astray,  and  therefore  needs 
restraint,  is  a  fact  undeniable,  and  acknowledged  by  the  atheist  him- 
self. And  this  stubborn  fact  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  his  doctrine 
of  man,  who,  according  to  him,  is  moved  in  a  certain  line  of  conduct 
without  any  choice,  and  acts  by  imperious  necessity,  whether  he  be 
the  son  of  nature  or  of  God.  Besides,  as  before  stated,  it  is  impos- 
sible that  man  should  be  equal  to  his  Maker;  for  a  created  uncreated 
being  is  impossible,  contradictory  and  absurd;  and  no  effect  can  equal 
the  cause  ;  it  is  therefore  impossible  that  men  should  possess  the  per- 
fection of  Deity.  Consequently  it  is  impossible  that  man,  who  is  a 
rational  being,  should  not  be  subject  to  trial,  whether  he  would  obey 
his  superior  or  not.  And  where  there  is  no  possibility  of  falling,  or 
of  transgressing,  there  can  be  no  trial ;  it  was  therefore  impossible 
that  man  could  have  been  created  impeccable,  or  out  of  the  reach  of 
transgression. 

Why,  then,  says  the  atheist,  did  God  create  man.'  For  his  own 
good  pleasure  in  the  display  of  his  own  glory  and  perfections,  and  for 
the  good  pleasure,  that  is,  the  happiness  of  man.  God  being  infinite- 
ly good,  it  is  reasonable  that  he  should  exercise  infinite  delight  in  the 
works  of  his  power,  and  in  communicating  happiness  to  his  creatures 
as  they  become  fit  to  receive  and  use  it.  God's  wisdom  is  much  more 
displayed  by  creating  man  a  reasonable  and  responsible  being,  than  it 
could  have  been  by  creating  him  in  an  unavoidable  line  of  conduct ; 
a  machine  can  make  no  active  offering  of  praise  to  its  former.  And 
much  greater  foundation  is  laid  for  the  glory,  honour,  immortality  and 
eternal  life  of  man,  by  his  being  made  capable  of  choosing  good  or 
evil,  and  putting  him  in  a  situation  to  bring  him  to  the  trial,  than  could 
have  been  by  a  contrary  procedure. 

Man  was  not  required  to  transgress,  by  any  imperious  or  insur- 
mountable necessity ;  he  was  only  seduced  by  the  temptation,  and  he 
yielded  to  his  disgrace.  Had  he  remained  stedfast  in  his  obedience 
with  integrity,  it  had  been  much  more  to  his  honour,  than  to  have  been 
prevented  from  falling  by  irresistible  power  or  necessity.  And  God's 
foreknowing  that  he  would  fall,  is  no  good  reason  why  he  should  not 
be  put  to  the  trial,  seeing  that  man  in  the  nature  of  things,  as  shown 
above,  could  never  arrive  to  the  summit  of  that  happiness  of  which 
he  is  capable,  without  such  trial.  Neither  is  God's  foreknowledge 
of  the  event  of  man's  trial  any  evidence  against  the  most  consum- 
mate goodness  of  God,  or  his  good  will  to  his  creatures,  especially 
considering  that  he  stood  ready,  at  the  time  appointed,  or  when  it 
would  be  the  most  expedient,  all  things  considered,  to  introduce 
Christ  the  Redeemer,  and  by  him  to  restore  man  to  a  superior 
state  of  happiness,  better  confirmed  and  better  appreciated,  after  ex- 
periencing the  contrary.  All  these  things  are  included  in  Christianity. 

This  view  of  the  subject  shows  the  unreasonableness  of  the  man 
of  boasted  reason,  who  objects.  If  God  could  not  make  man  impec- 
cable^ ivhy  did  he  make  him  at  all  ?  and  then  punish  him  for  not 
being  impeccable?  It  is  not  so  ;  man  is  not  punished  for  not  being 
impeccable;  but  for  unnecessary  transgression.  And  he  is  subject 
to  chastisement  to  bring  him  to  a  sense  of  his  duty,  and  to  punish- 


10  ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 

mentfor  transgressions  committed  against  better  information,  accord- 
ing to  their  nature  and  the  degree  of  unrighteousness. 

But  the  atheist,  impatient  of  restraint,  or  the  least  subjection  to 
God,  insists  that  God,  if  he  exists  at  all,  is  required  to  clear  the  way 
for  man  to  be  happy  at  once,  and  to  prevent  by  absolute  power  every 
degree  of  pain  or  distress  ;  thus  implicitly,  not  to  say  explicitly,  de- 
manding that  God  ought  to  be  subject  to  the  will  of  his  creatures  in 
every  punctilio  ;  as  if  that  would  be  reasonable  ;  or  as  if  parents 
ought  to  be  subject  to  the  desires  of  children  or  minors,  and  use  no 
more  chastisement  than  the  minors  would  love.  Would  they  ever 
know  the  benefits  of  dutiful  obedience  }  But  men  will  all  learn  in 
the  event,  that  God  is  more  wise,  as  well  as  more  patient  than  they. 

But  let  the  atheist  tell,  why  his  good,  necessary  and  seJf-exhting 
nature,  the  parent  of  men,  hath  produced  men,  and  still  propagates 
them,  exposed  to  such  miseries,  when  she  has  no  power  nor  wisdom 
to  consummate  their  happiness.  For  if  he  insist  that  light  will  some 
time  break  in  on  the  people  ;  her  cruelty  is  inexcusable  towards  those 
who  have  heretofore  perished  out  of  existence  without  any  fault  in 
them,  and  those  who  now  exist  in  the  same  condition  :  and  for  all  these 
there  is  no  hope.  For  it  is  poor  consolation  for  my  distress  that 
some  time,  perhaps  a  thousand  or  two  years  hence,  some  people  will 
see  better  times,  for  a  few  days,  and  then  sink  into  an  unconscious 
chaos  with  all  the  rest.  But  the  only  possible  apology  for  this  con- 
duct of  the  all-producing  nature  is,  that  she  is  absolutely  incapable 
of  the  sensation  of  good  or  evil,  happiness  or  misery,  being  uncon- 
scious, unintelligent  and  improvident ;  she  is  therefore  not  the  parent, 
or  producer,  of  man,  who  is  intelligent,  conscious  and  provident, 
having  the  sensation  of  good  and  evil,  happiness  and  misery,  both  in 
himself  and  others,  and  therefore  far  superior  to  his  boasted  cause, 
nature.  Thus  the  necessary  existence  of  nature,  as  excluding  the 
Being  called  God,  is  reasoned  out  of  existence. 

The  atheist  combats  the  notion  of  the  existence  of  God,  because 
he  is  called  a  Spirit,  insisting  that  the  existence  of  a  Spirit,  or  any 
being  distinct  from  matter,  is  impossible.  "  The  idea  of  spirituality,^'' 
says  he,  "is  an  idea  without  model."  Without  material  form  no 
doubt  he  means.  But  whence  comes  this  idea.''  All  ideas  are  either 
real  or  imaginary ;  and  the  imagination  cannot  form  an  idea  of  any 
thing  which  has  no  existence,  or  strictly  no  model  ;  for  it  is  only  the 
imagery  of  realities,  though  often  variously  formed  and  mingled  to- 
gether. And  as  no  known  assemblage,  modification,  organization  or 
combination  of  material  existences  can  produce  a  result  which  is 
spiritual,  it  follows  of  course,  that  spirit  does  exist,  and  is  made  known 
to  our  senses  by  sufficient  evidence,  else  the  imagination  had  never 
formed  the  idea.  "  But  wherein,^^  says  the  atheist,  "  is  modern  theo- 
logy superior  to  that  of  the  savages  ?  The  savages  acknowledge  a 
great  spirit  for  the  master  of  the  world.''''  And  why  do  they  acknow- 
ledge such  a  master  ?  First ;  very  rationally  ;  Because  they  see  that 
done  which  no  material  being  can  be  descried  or  discovered  to  do. 
And  secondly  ;  Because  all  nations  have  acknowledged  the  existence 
of  God  from  time  immemorial,  before  men  had  time  to  contrive  or 
the  imagination  to  paint,  without  a  model,  such  an  idea.  It  is  there- 
fore commensurate  with  man's  existence,  and  was  communicated  to 


ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  11 

him  in  his  creation.  But  as  men,  through  ignorance  and  other  causes, 
differ  in  opinion  on  various  subjects,  while  the  existence  of  the  things 
is  indisputable,  so  in  relation  to  God  and  his  worship,  there  are  vari- 
ous opinions  and  practices,  all  which  argue  the  existence  of  the  ori- 
ginal facts,  as  counterfeits  argue  the  existence  and  utility  of  the  genu- 
ine, without  which  there  could  be  no  motive  for  the  counterfeit. 

The  similitude  by  which  the  atheist  attempts  to  ridicule  and  con- 
front the  existence  of  God  is  not  only  imperfect  but  contemptible. 
"  The  savages^  like  all  ignorant  people^  attribute  to  spirits  all  the  ef- 
fects of  which  their  inexperience  cannot  discover  the  true  cause. 
Ask  a  savage  what  moves  your  watch.  He  will  tell  you,  it  is  a  spirit. 
Ask  your  divines  what  moves  the  universe.  They  answer.,  it  is  a  spirit." 
But  the  artist  can  point  out,  even  to  the  savage,  the  spring  of  motion 
in  the  watch  and  its  author ;  yet  the  greatest  artist,  the  master  of 
reason,  even  the  atheist,  exclusively  eminent.,  cannot  point  out  to  the 
most  enlightened  nation  or  man,  the  spring  of  motion  in  the  universe, 
much  less  the  author  of  it,  one  side  of  that  necessary  existence  called 
God.  As  to  the  superiority  of  modern  theology,  (that  is  Christianity  ; 
for  nothing  in  contrast  with  that  is  of  sufficient  utility,)  above  that  of 
the  savages,  it  will  appear  in  its  consistency,  reasonableness,  and  other 
superior  and  appropriate  fruits.  By  Christianity  I  do  not  mean  every 
thing  called  by  that  name.  Nothing  is  worthy  of  that  name,  except 
that  which  is  consistent  in  its  principles,  reasonable  in  its  requisitions, 
intelligible  to  the  human  mind,  peaceable  in  its  measures,  and  happi- 
fying  to  its  subjects,  imposing  no  arbitrary  measures  on  its  friends  or 
enemies. 

But  the  atheist  combats  the  existence  of  God  from  the  considera- 
tion that  he  is  said  to  be  incomprehensible.  "  We  are  told.,''"'  says  he, 
"  that  divine  qualities  are  not  of  a  nature  to  be  comprehended  by  finite 
minds.  The  natural  cojisequence  must  be,  that  divine  qualities  are 
not  made  to  occupy  finite  minds.''''  If  God  be  not  a  proper  subject 
of  contemplation  for  man,  to  occupy  his  mind,  because  he  is  incom- 
prehensible, it  follows  as  a  natural  consequence,  that  man  is  not  made 
to  occupy  the  mind  of  man,  for  man  is  incomprehensible  to  man. 
The  life  of  man  is  an  inexplicable  mystery  to  man  ;  and  his  intellec- 
tual part,  which  we  call  by  the  name  of  spirit,  and  whose  existence  is 
undeniable,  according  to  the  irresistible  evidence  of  sense,  and  accord- 
ing to  whose  volitions  the  material  system  is  moved  to  different 
actions,  is  utterly  inexplicable  to  man  in  his  present  state  of  existence, 
not  to  say,  ever  will  be  ;  its  mode  of  existence  and  method  of  opera- 
tion are  unknown,  whether  it  be  accounted  for  by  the  creating  power 
of  God  or  by  the  assemblage  of  material  essences.  But  its  existence 
is  irresistibly  confirmed. 

Let  us  instance  a  case  by  which  it  will  appear  evident  that  the  spi- 
rit is  an  agent  entirely  distinct  from  the  material  body  or  any  of  its 
properties.  It  is  known  in  ten  thousand  instances,  to  men  of  sober 
reflection,  that  fleshly  propensities,  or  passions,  invite  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  certain  objects,"  which  by  a  co-operation  with  the  bodily  or- 
gans create  more  or  less  pleasure,  when  the  intellectual  power  in- 
forms the  man  that  such  an  object  is  improper  and  attended  with  so 
much  evil,  as  to  overbalance  the  pleasure,  and  in  many  cases,  even 
convert  it  into  pain.     In  other  instances,  when  the  object  is  justifiable 


12  ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 

and  properly  adapted  to  the  regular  appetites  of  the  body  in  due  sub- 
ordination, the  delight  also  which  it  gives  being  innocent,  the  intellect 
approves  the  invitation.  Now  what  are  these  passions,  but  sen- 
sations arising  from  the  intimate  connection  of  the  affections  with  the 
material  body,  in  the  constitution  of  animal  life  ?  And  what  is  the 
intellectual  power  but  the  more  noble  and  superior  faculty,  which  in 
its  proper  order  soars  above  those  inferior  objects  ?  If  it  be  said -that 
the  intellect  and  the  affections  are  only  different  faculties  of  the  same 
being,  and  if  the  latter  be  only  a  property  of  the  body  so  is  the  for- 
mer ;  the  answer  is,  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  of  the 
body  but  of  the  spirit;  which  is  proved  by  the  resistance  which  is 
offered  to  the  inclinations  of  the  body  and  the  subjection  required  ; 
for  no  active  principle  can  resist  itself.  These  j»assions  run  precipi- 
tately, being  excited  by  bodily  sensation  ;  but  the  intellect,  as  though 
more  distantly  connected  with  the  body  than  the  affections,  or  by  some 
cause  less  exposed  to  its  influence,  is  able  to  govern  the  whole,  in 
direct  opposition  to  these  passions.  And  though  in  the  first  introduc- 
tion of  the  most  important  truths,  we  get  access  to  men  only  by  the 
senses  and  then  to  the  affections,  the  intellect  is  calculated,  in  its 
proper  office,  to  govern  the  whole  into  such  regulation,  that  these 
fleshly  passions  have  nothing  to  do  in  the  case  ;  and  will  always  do  so 
in  important  matters,  substantiated  by  proper  evidence,  where  it  is 
not  violently  wrested  from  its  seat.  This  agency  of  the  spirit  shows 
that  it  is  distinct  from  the  body,  and  not  of  it,  by  any  assemblage  or 
organization  whatever,  and  that  it  is  capable  of  an  existence  and 
agency  when  disengaged  from  it.  And  though  it  is  unknown  to  us 
how  that  can  be,  its  present  order  of  existence  and  agency  shows  that 
it  is  capable  of  both,  by  the  power  of  the  same  agent  that  created  it. 
Yet  its  mode  of  existence  and  method  of  operation  are  beyond  the 
science  of  man  in  his  present  stage  of  action.  And  it  is  not  a  neces- 
sary or  self-existing  agent,  else  it  would  understand  and  comprehend 
itself — its  mode  of  existence  and  manner  of  operation  ;  man  could 
comprehend  himself  and  analyze  his  own  existence.  But  all  nature 
cannot  do  this  ;  nature  therefore,  or  matter,  cannot  be  man's  author; 
for  every  correct  author,  or  artist,  can  analyze  his  own  work.  The 
existence  therefore  of  this  intellectual  faculty,  or  spirit,  irresistibly 
proves,  by  the  evidence  of  sense,  the  existence  of  a  necessary,  self- 
existent  agent,  superior  to  all  nature  ;  that  agent  is  called  God. 

Again,  the  atheist  argues  ;  "  If  God  be  an  injinile  being,  there  can- 
not be,  either  in  the  present  or  future  world,  any  relative  proportion  be- 
tween man  and  his  God.  The  idea  of  God  can  never  enter  the  human 
7nind."  And  again  ;  "  Thus,  in  saying  God  is  infinite,  you  annihilate 
religion  for  man,  icho  is  a  finite  being.''''  These  are  all  self-evidently 
false  positions.  The  mind  of  man  unfailingly  discovers  a  relative 
proportion  between  two  existences  although  the  one  be  infinitely  supe- 
rior to  the  other  :  this  needs  no  proof.  And  the  idea  of  God,  both 
as  to  his  existence  and  character,  although  he  is  infinite  and  incom- 
prehensible, hath  entered  the  human  mind,  and  it  retains  it,  and  all 
the  reasoning  of  unbelievers  can  never  get  it  away.  It  is  easily  un- 
derstood, that  the  idea  and  proof  of  the  existence  of  any  being,  and 
correct  (as  far  as  it  goes)  knowledge  of  his  character,  are  very  differ- 
ent matters  from  a  perfect  comprehension. 


ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  13 

'  The  a.tlieist  aims  to  demolish,  as  at  one  stroke,  the  evidence  of  mir- 
acles in  favour  of  the  existence  of  God  and  the  truth  of  religion, 
thus  :  "/s  ffl  miracle  capable  of  annihilaliiig  the  evidence  of  a  demon- 
sir  ated  truth  ?  'Although  a  man  should  have  the  secret  of  healing  all  the 
sick,  of  making  all  the  lame  to  walk,  of  raising  all  the  dead  of  a  city,  of 
asc&nding  into  the  air,  of  stopping  the  course  of  the  sun  and  moon,  can  he 
thereby  convince  me,  that  tivo  and  tico  do  not  make  four,  that  one  makes 
three  and  that  three  make  only  oneV  Quei-y  ;  Why  could  not  this 
shreiodreasonerhtixe  informed  himself  that  Christianity  calls  for  no 
miracles  to  prove  such  contradictions;  but,  when  they  are  used  at  all, 
to  confirm  those  things  which  are  according  to  men's  reason,  though 
often  out  of  the  reach  of  it  to  discover  until  taught  by  superior  wis- 
dom ?  But  he  continues  to  ask  if  these  miracles  can  convince  him, 
"  That  a  God,  whose  immensity  fills  the  universe,  could  be  contained 
in  the  body  of  a  Jew;  that  the  Eternal  could  die  like  a  man  i"  Let 
these  wise  men  once  more  be  taught  that  Christianity  teaches  no  such 
doctrine.  The  Internal  cannot  die,  but  a  man  could  die.  Chris- 
tianity saith  not  that  the  God  of  immensity  was  contained  in  the  body 
of  a  Jew,  or  of  any  man.  Heaven,  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot 
contain  him.  The  body  of  that  worthy  Jew,  to  whom  the  atheist 
alludes,  could  not  contain  His  appropriate  rational  Spirit,  which  was  in 
connection  with  it,  and  which  was  occupied  in  contemplations  and  en- 
gagements far  superior. 

But  this  is  not  to  contradict,  that  the  fullness  of  Deity  dwelt  in  that 
man — that  of  all  the  character  and  perfections  of  Deity  he  was  a  par- 
taker, having  the  proper  benefit  and  aid  of  the  power,  wisdom  and 
other  perfections  of  that  God  with  whom  he  stood  in  union.  But  why 
could  not  God  dwell  in  that  man,  and  by  him  be  revealed  to  the 
world  ?  God  is  love.  Is  there  any  reason  why  love  could  not  be  in 
that  man,  and  be  shown  out  in  his  life  and  actions  .''  and  so  of  the  rest. 

But  he  continues  to  inquire  if  the  above  miracles  can  convince 
him,  "  That  a  God,  ivho  is  said  to  be  immutable,  provident  and  sensible, 
could  have  changed  his  mind  upon  his  religion  and  reformed  his  own 
loork  by  a  new  revelationV  If  these  be  the  reasonings  of  the  sole 
proprietor  of  reason,  (for  he  saith  that  every  man  who  reasons  soon  be- 
comes an  unbeliever,)  it  is  time  to  displace  reason  from  the  precedency. 
Doth  not  every  man  of  reason  know  that  even  short-sighted  men 
(those  of  the  most  provident  cast)  might  see  far  enough  forward  to 
know  that,  in  many  cases,  temporary  laws  might  be  advantageously 
enacted,  which  it  would  be  proper  by  and  by  to  rescind  and  super- 
sede by  a  more  effectual  and  permanent  code .''  Did  it  indicate  an 
improvident  and  mutable  being  to  find  him  continually  intimating 
that  a  great  change  would  come  at  an  after  period,  and  to  find  it 
such  when  it  came,  as  to  show  that  it  was  signified  by  all  that  went 
before  .''  These  are  the  works  of  a  permanently  provident  and  immu- 
table God. 

Such  palpably  erroneous  and  distorted  statements  as  those  in  the 
above  paragraphs,  show  the  disingenuous  man  and  the  weakness  of 
his  cause. 

But  as  I  have  no  intention  to  pursue  the  atheist  throughout  his 
haunt,  it  begins  to  be  time  to  leave  him  for  the  present,  lest  I  should 
incur  the  censure  of  wasting  time  by  making  serious  replies  to  un- 


14  ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 

wortliy  cavilings.  For  some,  not  to  say  many,  of  Ms  assertions  are 
too  preposterous  not  to  make  his  intelligent  abettors  blush.  I  shall 
however  take  notice  of  one  or  two  particulars  more. 

He  asserts  that  "  the  idea  of  infinity  is  to  us  an  idea  icithoiit  model, 
without  archetype^  without  object.''''  How  so  }  Because  created  beings 
are  not  infinite  }  But  if  the  idea  of  infinity  be  without  model,  arche- 
type or  object,  whence  comes  the  idea  }  For  people  have  the  impres- 
sion that  the  thing  is,  and  all  our  ideas  are  by  sensation  and  reflec- 
tion on  the  things  which  the  senses  perceive.  But  the  idea  of  infinity 
is  as  constitutional  and  congenial  to  man  as  his  thoughts.  Did  any 
man  of  mature  reflection  ever  extend  his  thoughts  so  far  as  not  to  con- 
ceive that  he  left  an  infinity  beyond  .?  Not  one.  And  with  relation 
to  God,  or  any  first  cause,  the  thought  of  a  necessary,  self-existing 
agent,  not  infinite,  not  perf^tly  acquainted  with  himself  and  all  his 
works,  or  not  possessed  of  every  perfection,  is  as  absurd  as  to  deny 
existence  altogether.  But  this  is  not  nature,  according  to  the  atheist 
himself,  who  acknowledges  that  the  world  is  evidently  not  governed 
by  an  intelligent  being — and  yet  this  unintelligent  being  is,  according 
to  him,  the  parent  of  intelligent  man  :  an  effect  superior  to  the  cause, 
which  is  absurd.  Whence  then  is  man  }  He  is  the  offspring  of  God, 
as  Christianity  saith.  Why,  then,  can  he  not  comprehend  his  Maker  ^ 
Because  it  is  contrary  to  the  reason  and  nature  of  things  for  the  infe- 
rior to  comprehend  the  superior,  as  well  as  for  the  effect  to  equal  the 
cause.  A  superior  power  or  degree  of  wisdom  or  skill,  may  accom- 
modate itself  to  the  making  of  an  inferior  work,  but  an  inferior  cannot 
produce  a  superior.  Man,  therefore,  is  not  the  offspring  of  nature, 
or  matter,  who  evidently  possesses  more  intelligence  than  all  animate 
or  inanimate  matter  besides. 

Again  :  if  man  be  the  offspring  of  nature,  and  possess  no  other 
medium  of  information  ;  and  if  nature  cannot  be  in  disorder,  from  what 
source  is  the  notion  of  the  infinite,'wise  and  powerful  God  }  Is  it  the 
orderly  work  of  nature  to  teach  falsehoods  ^  Is  ignorance  in  man  so 
powerful  a  contriver  that  all  wisdom  cannot  contradict  its  productions  .'' 
Or  are  there  extant  certain  invisible,  inimical  agents,  unconnected 
with  nature,  that  infuse  corruption  into  the  human  mind  }  Whether 
is  it  most  rational  to  believe  in  the  necessary  existence  of  such  de- 
mons, or  to  acknowledge  in  full  faith  the  existence  of  a  powerful, 
wise  and  perfect  God,  who,  after  men  have,  in  his  wisdom,  been  suf- 
fered to  try  their  utmost  according  to  nature,  without  effecting  happi- 
ness, will  lead  them  in  a  way  which  by  their  wisdom  they  knew  not, 
to  level  their  pride,  and  display  his  own  wisdom  and  forbearance,  love 
and  goodness,  in  their  more  consummate  and  confirmed  happiness, 
according  to  the  Christian  faith  .'' 

But  the  atheist  objects  to  Christianity  as  being  unreasonable,  be- 
caus3  contrary  to  nature,  and  confronts  the  idea  of  God's  confounding 
the  wisdom  of  men,  thus  :  "  You  tell  us,  theologians,  that  what  is 
folly  in  the  eyes  of  men  is  wisdom  before  God,  who  delights  to  confound 
the  wisdom  of  the  ivise.  But  do  you  not  say  that  human  wisdom  is  a 
gift  of  Heaven  .''  Is  it  not  strange  that  one  can  be  the  friend  of  your 
God,  only  by  declaring  himself  the  enemy  of  reason  and  good  sense  .^" 
Thus  he  always  misrepresents  the  Christian  religion,  which  hath 
shown  what  kind  of  wisdom  God  sees  fit  to  confound — the  wisdom  of 


ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD.  15 

those  wlio  are  wise  to  do  evil,  wise  in  corniption — that  wisdom  which 
is  earthly,  sensual,  devilish — not  reason  and  good  sense.  But  let  the 
atheist  object  as  he  may,  it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  the  ways  of  man- 
kind are  corrupt,  and  that  their  wisdom  needs  an  overturning ;  they 
need  a  work  to  counteract  their  natures — such  a  work  as  nature  with 
all  her  laws  and  wisdom,  independently  of  God,  can  never  accom- 
plish. For  this  corrupt  nature,  or  the  corruption  and  depravity  of 
man,  the  atheist  can  assign  no  consistent  reason  ;  for,  according  to 
him,  there  is  no  God  ;  men,  therefore,  could  not  have  become  wicked 
by  departing  from  his  laws  ;  neither  could  they  have  been  corrupted 
by  deviating  from  the  laws  of  nature,  for  her  laws  are  irresistible,  and 
men  are  inevitably  obedient  to  them.  Christianity  alone  can  solve 
the  mysteries  of  human  depravity,  and  reveal  man  to  himself. 

It  is  not  intended  to  object  to  the  propriety  of  speaking  of  the  laws 
or  works  of  nature.  But  these  laws  and  works  can  be  interrupted  and 
subverted  ;  which  conclusively  bespeaks  their  dependence  on  another 
cause,  and  their  subjection  to  another  power,  and  that  these  laws  are 
nothing  more  than  certain  qualities  and  capacities  with  which  the 
whole  creation  hath  been  indued,  every  part  in  its  own  order,  adapt- 
ing each  to  its  proper  intention,  by  the  power  and  wisdom  of  the 
Creator.  For  the  confusion,  jarring  principles  and  contrary  opera- 
tions, which  are  found  among  the  different  parts  of  creation,  are  so 
far  from  weakening  the  evidence  of  a  creating  and  governing  power, 
that  they  rather  confirm  it,  because,  without  such  a  power,  the  whole 
would  be  reduced  to  a  perfect  chaos. 

The  greatest  pitch  of  power,  wisdom,  intelligence  and  the  like,  to 
which  atheists  can  point,  is  in  men,  the  most  noble  of  nature's  sons  ; 
neither  can  they  show  an  evidence  or  a  trace  of  her  existence,  power, 
wisdom,  or  any  thing  of  the  kind,  beyond  men  ;  she  has  given  them 
no  communicable  or  ostensible  laws  or  rules,  by  which  to  regulate 
their  conduct,  or  to  indicate  her  being  possessed  of  such  power  and 
wisdom  as  they  ascribe  to  her.  And  it  is  inconsistent  with  reason,  to 
suppose  any  one  can  communicate  to  others  that  which  he  or  she  doth 
not  possess.  One  may,  in  some  cases,  communicate  through  another 
as  a  medium,  that  which  he  who  is  the  medium  doth  not  originally  pos- 
sess ;  but  the  communicator  must  be  equal  to  the  thing  communicated 
by  actual  possession,  as  it  is  granted  that  no  effect  can  exceed  the 
cause,  neither  can  it  equal  it. 

How  preposterous  therefore  to  suppose  that  nature,  without  life, 
can  communicate  life  to  her  children,  even  as  far  as  to  a  toad  or  afly ! 
Or  that,  without  mental  powers,  she  can  communicate  wisdom  and 
intelligence  to  men  !  Or  that  without  forethought  or  plan,  she  could 
create  men  or  other  beings  capable  of  wisely  laying  out  their  pur- 
suits, being  provident  of  futurity  !  Or  that,  without  eyes  or  sight,  or 
any  equivalent  power,  she  could  minister  to  men  and  other  animals, 
that  organ  of  the  most  delicate  and  exquisite  structure,  and  of  in- 
controvertible and  definite  discernment !  In  these  few  examples  we 
may  see  the  absurdity  of  such  notions  ;  as  well  as  in  ten  thousand  more 
of  the  minute  and  exquisitely  wise  and  useful  operations  in  the  forma- 
tion of  man. 

Once  more.  It  is  much  more  consistent  with  reason  and  common 
sense  to  believe  in  God.  a  Being,  independent,  necessarily  existing,  as 


16  ON    THE    BEING    OF    GOD. 

lie  is,  and  therefore  unchangeable,  self-existent,  and  possessing  j^ower 
and  wisdom  adequate  to  the  works  of  creation  and  providence,  and  to 
a  happy  result  in  the  end,  and  who  hath  also  made  known  his  will  to 
this  intent,  as  the  great  first  cause  on  whom  all  are  dependent,  than 
to  believe  in  the  necessary  existence,  or  independence  of  nature  and 
all  creation,  or  its  dependence  on  its  own  laws  which  cannot  be  point- 
ed out  by  itself  or  its  children,  which  is  also  dependent  on  its  own 
productions  for  its  existence.  But  a  pre-existing  cause  is  necessary 
to  every  effect,  and  the  faith  of  it  irresistible.  And  these  advocates 
for  nature  cannot  point  out  any  such  independent,  all-suflSicient  Being, 
distinct  from  that  God  whom  Christians  worship. 

As  for  the  all-sufficient  laws  of  nature  of  which  they  talk,  it  is  efasily 
proved  on  the  principles  already  seated,  that  no  such  laws  can  possi- 
bly exist ;  because  no  laws  can  exist  without  a  legislator,  or  an  agent 
capable  of  containing  them  ;  or,  in  other  words,  no  principle  of  agency 
can  exist  without  a  subject  capable  of  containing  those  principles  and 
putting  them  into  operation.  But  the  existence  of  the  laws  of  nature 
to  which  are  attributed  all  effects  and  operations,  depends  on  the  pre- 
existence  of  nature's  works,  (for  nature's  laws  exist  only  in  her  works, 
or  arc  the  gift  of  another,  even  God,)  which  places  the  effect  before 
the  cause,  or  the  product  prior  to  the  principle,  which  is  absurd. 

This  part  of  the  subject  is  to  meet  the  reasonings,  or  reveries,  of 
those  who  contemplate  the  existence  of  nature  somehow  abstractedly 
from  material  existences.  That  matter  cannot  be  the  pre-existing, 
independent  cause,  is  proved  before.  He,  therefore,  who  denies  the 
existence  of  God,  to  be  consistent,  must  deny  all  existence,  all  agency, 
all  language,  and  even  all  thought ;  for  it  will  not  be  denied  that  he 
who  is  capable  of  thought  must  also  have  an  existence,  and  that  ex- 
istence, not  being  necessary,  or  self-sufficient,  must  have  a  previous 
cause,  which  is  none  but  God,  the  only  self-sufficient  Being,  as  already 
proved. 

These  things  are  written,  not  because  there  is  any  deficiency  of 
evidence  in  the  revelation  of  God,  relative  to  his  existence,  character 
and  works  in  the  Gospel,  but  to  show  the  unbeliever  a  few  of  his  weak- 
nesses, and  some  of  his  dishonesty,  on  his  own  ground.  For  notwith- 
standing that  many  professed  Christians,  kings,  princes  and  priests, 
with  their  followers,  have  been,  and  still  are,  extravagantly  wicked, 
(but  these  have  neither  part  nor  lot  in  Christianity,)  and  have  truly 
given  much  occasion  to  unbelievers,  the  latter  have  been  very  super- 
ficial and  uncandid  in  their  investigations  of  the  subject  of  Christianity. 


OF    THE    TRUTH    OP   REVELATION.  17 


CHAPTER    II. 

OF    THE     TRUTH     OF     REVELATION. 

After  ihe  being  of  God,  it  seems  necessary  to  the  existence  of  true 
religion,  in  the  spirit  of  unity,  (without  which  there  can  be  no  per- 
fect human  happiness,)  to  believe  in  revelation,  or  to  believe  that  God 
hath  made  known  his  mind  and  will  to  men,  by  such  infallible  proofs 
as  to  satisfy  the  understanding,  the  heart  and  conscience,  and  be  a  firm 
and  unsuspected  foundation  whereon  to  build  for  everlasting.  This 
will  naturally  have  respect  in  the  first  place  to  the  truth  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, which  relate  to  the  making  known  of  his  will  at  sundry  times 
and  in  divers  manners,  by  the  prophets,  by  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and 
in  connection  with  him,  by  his  apostles  and  other  followers.  Abun- 
dance hath  been  written  on  this  subject  with  great  energy  of  thought 
and  reason  ;  but  still  the  desired  end  is  not  effected,  which  yet  must  be. 

The  holy  Scriptures,  no  doubt,  carry  an  evidence  of  their  truth  and 
divine  original,  in  the  very  face  of  them,  beyond  common  writings. 

The  subject  matter  of  them,  in  great  part,  is  beyond  the  possible 
knowledge  of  men,  on  any  other  principle  than  that  of  their  origin  be- 
ing divine  ;  the  sublimity  and  worth  of  their  communications,  being 
of  a  spiritual  and  eternal  nature,  carry  forcible  evidence  that  they  ne- 
ver sprung  from  an  earthly-minded  creature  without  divine  influence  ; 
the  honesty  with  which  the  writers  have  recorded  their  own  crimes 
and  those  of  one  another  argues  with  great  propriety  that  they  were 
not  governed  by  that  ruling  and  selfish  passion  of  mankind,  ever  par- 
tial to  themselves  and  to  their  peculiar  party,  but  by  that  spirit  of 
truth,  which  would  not  build  on  a  foundation  of  deceit,  and  will  let  God 
be  true  but  every  man  a  liar,  giving  to  God  the  supremacy,  as  the 
only  fountain  of  worth,  and  acknowledging  men  to  have  no  good  in 
them  except  what  they  receive  from  Him;  the  universally  attribut- 
ing of  the  glory  and  praise  of  all  good  things  and  of  all  excellence  to 
God  alone,  evinceth  that  they  were  not  dictated  by  that  self-pleasing, 
self-exalting  spirit  of  man  who  ever  loves  the  pre-eminence. 

The  miracles  which  were  wrought  by  the  ministers  of  God,  by  Mo- 
ses and  some  of  the  prophets,  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  followers, 
are,  in  their  own  nature  and  place,  incontestable  proof  of  their  divine 
original  •,  but  not  direct,  especially  to  those  who  have  not  seen  them 
and  do  not  credit  the  record.  For  should  a  man  deny  the  truth  of 
the  record,  there  is  no  direct  proof  of  the  existence  of  those  mira- 
cles, the  existence  of  which  must  be  confirmed  before  they  can  have 
their  influence  in  confirming  the  divinity  of  the  Scriptures.  But  in- 
directly, the  record  of  those  miracles  is  a  weighty  and  serious  proof. 
For  it  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  such  a  record  of  facts  could 
have  been  forged,  and  they  attested  to  have  been  done  in  so  public  a 
manner  as  they  were,  and  the  forgery  not  have  been  detected  at  the 
3 


18  OF    THE    TRUTH    OF    REVELATION. 

time  and  the  scheme  overthrown.  Neither  is  it  probable,  or  possible, 
in  the  face  of  the  inquiring  and  aspiring  temper  which  prevails  in  some 
at  all  times,  that  such  a  forgery  could  have  been  made  and  guarded 
until  palmed  on  the  people  for  truth,  by  dating  the  facts  out  of  the  re- 
membrance of  those  who  were  then  living;  for  they  would  have  im- 
mediately inquired  why  these  things  were  never  known  before,  and  es- 
pecially as  they  are  said  to  have  been  done,  at  least  most  of  them,  in 
the  presence  of  a  learned  and  enlightened  people,  such  a  people  too  as 
were  enemies  to  the  performance  of  many  of  these  miracles,  and  would 
rather  they  could  have  been  denied.  But  added  to  all  this,  their  ene- 
mies have  confessed  many  of  the  facts,  as  many  writers  have  shown. 

But  the  history  of  the  facts  in  that  open  and  public  manner  in  which 
they  are  related,  in  a  long  succession  of  time,  with  the  undoubted  ex- 
istence of  the  people  among  whom  they  were  wrought,  and  as  no- 
thing can  be  produced  really  to  overturn  the  evidence,  is  no  contemp- 
tible proof  of  their  truth.  For  the  history,  without  unequivocal  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary,  hath  at  least  a  right  to  the  same  weight  v/ith 
other  history.  And  as  to  the  things  which  are  narrated  being  out  of 
the  ordinary  knowledge  and  experience  of  man,  and  therefore  con- 
sidered by  some  as  matters  of  doubtfulness,  the  real  truth  is  the  con- 
trary in  the  circumstances  with  which  those  things  are  connected  ;  in- 
asmuch as  they  are  not  alleged  in  favour  of  any  of  the  vanities  or 
temporal  pursuits  of  men,  but  that  everlasting  substance  which  could 
never  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  without  the  existence  and  in- 
fluence of  superior  wisdom  ;  a  substance  which  is  not  according  to  the 
selfish  and  inferior  pursuits  and  propensities  of  men,  but  beyond  and 
contrary  to  them  all,  and  therefore  exposed  to  be  denied  had  it  been 
possible  to  conceal  them.  For  the  very  existence  of  the  profession  of 
Christianity,  as  before  observed,  to  the  extent  to  which  it  prevails,  not- 
withstanding all  the  variety  of  forms  and  contradictions  of  sentiments, 
is  a  strong  argument  of  its  truth,  as  being  originally  divine.  And  so 
are  the  false  religions  which  exist  in  the  woild,  not  excepting  Maho- 
metanism,  an  argument  in  favour  of  the  true  ;  because,  however  men 
may  vary  and  new  model,  mix  and  divide,  every  one  of  these  forms 
must  have  had  something  from  which  to  take  its  rise,  as  much  as 
counterfeit  money,  for  the  contrivance  of  which  there  could  have  been 
no  motive  without  the  existence  and  worth  of  the  true. 

Now  the  existence  of  Christianity  is  either  by  the  doctrines  of  na- 
ture, or  by  revelation,  and  is  either  true  or  false.  If  by  the  doctrine 
of  nature  and  false,  nature  is  no  longer  to  be  trusted,  and  it  is  time  for 
men  who  regard  truth  to  cease  pleading  the  authority  of  nature  ;  but  if 
true,  nature  confirms  the  authority  of  revelation  and  hath  her  instruc- 
tions from  the  same  source.  But  if  Christianity,  or  revelation,  hath  its 
existence  by  the  work  and  revelation  of  God,  as  the  Scriptures  say, 
those  Scriptures  which  give  an  account  of  its  origin  from  first  to  last, 
are  of  divine  original :  Christianity  and  they  stand  or  fall  together. 

It  is  utterly  uncandid  and  ineflfectual  to  object  against  the  truth  of  re- 
velation, as  some  do  certain  things  contained  in  the  scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament,  which  are  so  full  of  metaphors  and  parables,  and  customs 
now  unknown — as  the  account  of  the  man  who  had  his  shoe  loosed  in 
Israel — as  containing  absurdity,  because  they  cannot  understand  the  rea- 
son of  such  things.     All  men  cannot  equally  understand  all  matters 


OF    THE    TRUTH    OP    REVELATION.  19 

which  prevail  in  the  present  tense,  even  those  things  in  which  they  agree 
as  far  as  the  mind  of  each  one  is  capable  of  apprehending  them.  And 
how  shall  they  who  have  not  made  practical  religion  their  business,  un- 
derstand all  the  customs  and  their  reasons,  which  prevailed  in  ages  of 
which  they  have  no  accurate  knowledge  ?  But  whatever  is  to  become 
of  such  matters  as  those,  they  are  not  set  forth  as  the  evidence  by  which 
the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  is  to  be  evinced ;  and  the  judgment  of  men 
concerning  such  matters  cannot  destroy  that  evidence  for  which  men 
cannot  account  on  any  other  principle  than  that  of  divine  authority. 

The  truth  of  revelation,  or  the  reality  of  the  work  of  which  the 
Scriptures  speak  and  out  of  the  spirit  of  which  they  sprang,  together 
with  the  credibility  of  the  Scriptures,  in  their  own  place  and  proper 
use,  by  no  means  depends  on  the  logical  accuracy  of  the  language  or 
narative,  neither  on  the  rigidly  accurate  consistency  of  all  the  parts 
in  matters  of  less  consequence,  especially  when  we  consider  the  ex- 
posedness  of  the  Scriptures  to  errors  through  translations  and  transcrip- 
tions. Translations  read  differently  in  some  instances.  As  for  example, 
the  difference  of  twenty  years  in  two  accounts  of  the  age  of  Ahaziah 
when  he  began  to  reign,  is  removed  in  the  Greek  translation  called  the 
Septuagint :  it  is  twenty-two  in  each  place.  (See  2  Kings  viii.  26. 
2  Chron.  xxii.  2.)  But  to  be  able  to  reconcile  punctiliously  and  liter- 
ally all  narratives  in  matters  of  less  consequence  or  of  a  parabolical 
nature,  is  no  more  necessary  to  support  the  credibility  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  the  faith  of  that  work  of  salvation  to  which  they  relate,  either 
immediately  or  more  remotely,  or  to  be  in  possession  of  that  salvation, 
than  an  accurate  reconciliation  of  all  historical  facts  relating  to  any 
country,  or  people,  is  necessary  to  the  belief  of  the  existence  of  that 
people.  The  truth  of  the  Scriptures,  or  of  revealed  religion,  is  not 
materially  affected  by  these  things.  There  are  not  difficulties  enough, 
or  of  a  sufficiently  serious  and  irreconcilable  nature,  to  effect  much  with 
honest  minds,  while  these  same  Scriptures  carry  in  their  face,  evidences 
which  may  almost  be  called  intuitive,  and  which  could  come  from  no 
other  source  than  that  to  which  they  are  ascribed. 

For  in  the  next  place  ;  the  things  which  are  taught  by  the  Scriptures, 
as  the  duty  and  life  of  a  Christian,  are  of  such  a  nature  and  have  such 
a  tendency  to  counteract  the  current,  or  rather  torrent,  of  man's  na- 
ture and  propensities,  that  it  is  impossible  that  they  should  ever  have 
originated  from  this  source.  For  it  is  a  principle  in  nature  as  well  as 
revelation,  that  as  is  the  fountain  such  is  the  stream,  and  that  no  effect 
can  exceed  or  be  contrary  to  the  cause. 

Now  should  men  have  contrived  a  scheme  of  religion,  it  would  have 
been  adapted  to  their  own  inclinations  ;  and  whatever  mortifications 
they  might  have  counted  necessary  to  obtain  that  end,  that  end  or 
acquisition  would  have  been  accommodated  to  the  natural  feelings  of 
the  predominant  principle  ;  as  it  is  said  the  Mahometans  are  led  through 
much  mortification,  (to  which  they  have  been  instigated  likely  by 
the  knowledge  of  the  self-denial  and  mortifications  of  the  flesh  prac 
tised  by  Christians,)  with  the  prospect  of  a  paradise  of  sensual 
delights  ;  so  that  the  whole  plaA  is  accommodated  to  the  predominant 
sensual  appetites  of  men.  And  this  principle  is  proved  in  fact  by  the 
immensely  superior  number  of  those  who  profess  Christianity  on  the 
express  principle  of  its  being  founded  on  the  revelation  of  God,  who 


20  OF    THE    TRUTH    OF    REVELATION. 

accommodate  the  faith  and  rules  of  Christ  to  their  own  taste,  until 
there  is  no  discoverable  difference,  farther  than  the  profession,  between 
them  and  the  non-professors. 

But  there  is  no  principle  in  man  ever  to  have  produced  that  prac- 
tical cross-bearing  and  self-denial  v,hich,  according  to  the  Scripture 
account,  Jesus  Christ  taught  his  followers  by  word  and  by  works — 
that  cross  on  which  is  crucified  the  flesh  with  its  affections  as  well 
as  its  lusts.  For  they  that  are  Chrisf's  have  crucified  the  flesh  ivith 
the  affections  and  lusts.  That  cross  therefore  which  everlastingly 
buries,  without  hope  of  restoration,  all  that  lust  of  concupiscence 
which  is  the  life  of  the  world,  so  that  it  is  said,  He  that  will  seek  to 
save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  and  which  gives  the  promise  of  an  ever- 
lasting reward  in  the  enjoyment  of  that,  for  which  natural  men  have 
no  relish  and  of  which  they  can  have  no  real  knowledge,  is  the  cross 
of  Christ,  which  is  enjoined  on  the  people  who  profess  his  name,  to 
bear  every  day.  This  is  that  cross  and  this  the  self-denial  taught  in 
the  Scriptures,  which  men  naturally  abhor,  and  which  therefore  there 
is  nothing  in  them  to  have  contrived. 

1  am  not  unaware  that  the  earthly  reasoning  of  men  will  make  this 
cross  an  objection  to  the  truth  of  genuine  Christianity,  saying,  it  is  un- 
reasonable because  unnatural.  But  if  unnatural  whence  came  it .'' 
Surely  not  from  nature  ;  not  from  the  spirit  of  iniquity,  or  principle 
of  evil,  which  Christians  call  the  devil,  who  ruleth  in  men,  and  who 
inclineth  men  to  foster  their  natural  lusts  ;  for  it  is  a  principle  of  rea- 
son as  well  as  revelation,  that  nature  is  not  divided  against  itself,  and 
that  Satan  is  not  divided  against  Satan. 

But  we  need  not  marvel  if  such  reasoning  be  found  in  those  who 
professedly  disbelieve  revelation  and  allow  themselves  to  be  ruled  by 
nature  ;  when,  preposterous  as  it  is,  those  who  acknowledge  the  truth 
of  revelation,  and  that  nature,  as  it  now  exists  in  men,  is  contrary  to 
God  and  to  all  good,  argue  in  the  same  way,  and  reject  the  Gospel 
which  inculcates  the  same  practical  cross  and  self-denial,  on  the  same 
account.  These  things  show,  as  before  stated,  that  if  men  had  con- 
trived a  scheme  of  religion,  they  would  not  have  had  such  a  cross  in 
it,  there  being  no  source  in  them  ever  to  conceive  of  such  a  thing,  as 
being  necessary  or  proper.  These  things  also  show  that  the  professed 
Christians  and  those  whom  they  call  infidels,  have  religion  nearly 
allied  together  ;  all  being  of  the  earth,  they  savour  alike  the  things  of 
the  earth. 

But  it  is  time  to  advertise  the  reader  that  the  truth  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  of  revelation,  stands  on  an  entirely  different  footing  since 
the  establishment  of  the  faith  of  Christ's  second  appearing  from  what 
it  has  done  for  ages  before.  Men  have  been  contending  about  names 
and  sentiments,  abetting  the  Scriptures  in  the  letter  while  they  had 
not  the  fruits  of  Christianity  to  show  in  its  defence.  But  the  profes- 
sion of  Christianity  was  reproached  and  the  name  of  God  blasphemed 
among  the  Gentiles^  by  the  unhallowed  lives  of  professors.  The  di- 
visions, the  animositi-s,  the  wars  and  bloodsheddings,  the  cruel  and 
inhuman  barbarities  exercised  in  many  places  against  each  other,  the 
avarice  of  the  major  part  of  its  ministers,  as  fast  as  they  obtained 
power  to  support  their  avaricious  temper,  with  many  such  iniquities, 


OF    THE    TRUTH    OF    REVELATION.  21 

have  furnished  the  enemies  of  revelation  with  good  reasons  against  its 
truth,  and  do  yet  where  these  evils  are  practised. 

For  while  the  professors  taught  that  the  Scriptures  were  the  foun- 
dation on  which  the  Church  was  built,  and  that  Church  was  such  a 
poor,  mangled,  divided,  corrupt  and  incoherent  thing,  its  members 
violating  the  precepts  and  example  of  Him  whom  they  professed  to 
serve,  and  of  the  Scriptures  by  which  they  professed  to  be  governed, 
more  especially  in  modern  ages,  they  had  poor  arguments  to  offer  in 
their  defence  ;  mainly  those  which  were  far-fetched  by  abstruse  rea- 
sonings on  history  and  other  topics,  or  those  which  were  only  internal, 
and  therefore  incapable  of  being  used  to  good  advantage  for  the  want 
of  concomitant  works  as  a  confirmation.  But  it  is  a  poor  method  to 
prove  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  or  of  the  profession  of  Christianity, 
to  talk  of  an  inward  treasure,  the  proper  and  convincing  fruits  of 
which  cannot  be  seen.  Not  disputing  but  many  arguments  used  by 
many  in  those  times  and  to  this  day,  in  defence  of  revelation,  are 
proper  and  irrefragable  in  their  own  nature  and  place,  but  often  in- 
efficacious for  the  want  of  their  proper  concomitants — the  Gospel  fruits. 
For  the  profession  of  Christianity  connected  with  the  life  of  a  man  of 
the  world,  is  a  flagrant  inconsistency. 

Now,  it  is  very  exceptionable  for  those  who  believe  the  Scriptures, 
to  teach  that  the  Church  is  built  on  the  Scriptures  ;  for,  according  to 
the  Scriptures,  the  house  of  God,  or  Church  of  the  living  God,  is  the 
ground  and  pillar  [base,  or  foundation  and  style]  of  the  truth ;  and  the 
law  goeth  forth  of  Zion  and  the  Word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem, 
and  not  Zion  from  the  law,  or  Jerusalem  from  the  Scriptures  ;  neither 
are  the  Scriptures  ever  said  to  be  the  foundation  on  which  the  Church 
is  built.  The  saying  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Ephesians,  (ii.  20,)  "  And 
are  built  on  the  foundations  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone,"  hath  been  alleged  as  a  proof 
that  the  Church  is  built  on  the  Scriptures.  But  the  argument  is  foreign 
and  inconclusive  ;  for  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets  is 
evidently  the  foundation  on  which  they  were  built,  or  to  which  they 
bore  witness,  which  could  not  be  the  Scriptures,  for  they  were  built 
,•  before  the  Scriptures  were  written,  and  stood  firm  while  they  wert 
^^  writing  them,  each  one  according  to  his  day  ;  and  the  foundation  to 
which  the}'  bore  witness  was  Christ.  To  him  gave  all  the  prophets  ivit- 
ness,  as  well  as  the  apostles,  saying,  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay 
than  that  is  laid,  ichich  is  Christ.  Or  the  foundation  of  the  apostles 
and  prophets  is  the  revelation  of  the  truth  of  God,  which  centres  alto- 
gether in  Christ,  who  is  the  chief  corner-stone.  Some  professors  may 
object,  that  this  is  Popish  doctrine.  And  what  then  .?  It  is  the  truth 
of  God  ;  and  is  any  truth  objectionable  because  a  people  accounted 
corrupt  believe  it  ?  The  revelation  of  God  is  in  the  true  Church  of 
Christ,  in  every  place  where  that  Church  is,  and  is  its  foundation  and 
support,  as  well  as  its  cement  and  Spirit  of  miion. 

There  are  serious  disadvantages  attending  the  opinion  that  the  Scrip- 
tures are  the  foundation  of  the  Church,  which  show  themselves  in  the 
fruits  of  those  churches  or  societies  who  believe  so,  none  of  them  be- 
ing able  to  exhibit  the  genuine  fruits  of  the  Gospel,  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,  love,  which  is  the  bond  of  perfectness,  and 


22  OF    THE    TRUTH    OP    REVELATION. 

the  like.  Aud  it  is  natural  that  this  should  be  the  case  ;  for  it  is  unde- 
niable that  the  Scriptures  have  suffered  by  the  hand  of  time,  through 
transcribings  and  translations,  and  have  lost,  especially  to  the  English 
reader  and  others  who  have  them  by  translation  only,  much  of  that  per- 
fection which  they  at  first  had,  consequently  the  building  which  is 
built  on  them,  or  even  squared  by  them  alone,  must  be  proportionabiy 
imperfect  and  uncertain.  But  this  is  not  all  ;  The  Scriptures  in  no  case 
represent  themselves  as  the  foundation  of  the  Church,  but  the  revela- 
tion of  God,  or  Christ  himself ;  it  is  therefore  subverting  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  as  they  are  true,  subverting  the  truth,  to  make  them  the 
foundation.  "  For  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid, 
which  is  Christ."* 

Bjt  in  the  progress  of  the  work  of  God  and  in  the  increase  of  the 
Church  in  the  second  appearing  of  Christ,  matters  will  have  a  differ- 
ent train,  and  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  be  confirmed,  while  they 
serve  their  own  proper  use  in  the  hands  of  the  people  of  God.  "  All 
(holy)  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  fur  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness ;  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished 
to  all  good  works."!  In  the  true  Church  of  Christ  the  genuine 
fruits  of  the  Gospel  may  be  found  in  such  a  manner  as  eventually  to 
confound  all  scruples  as  to  the  truth  of  revelation  ;  for  in  its  progress, 
which  hath  already  begun  to  appear,  may  be  found — peace,  for  its 
members  do  not  go  to  war  against  men's  lives,  or  property,  or  rights — 
safety,  for  its  members  shed  no  human  blood — union,  or  the  unity  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,  for  there  is  one  body  and  one  Spirit, 
one  faith,  one  baptism,  being  all  baptized  by  one  Spirit  into  one  body  ; 
one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all, 
through  all,  and  in  them  all.  No  place  is  found  for  selfishness,  covet- 
ousness,  or  partiality ;  for  they  have  all  things  common  and  no  man 
calleth  any  thing  which  he  possesseth  his  own.  No  room  is  left  for  even 
a  plausible  suspicion  of  worldly  or  sinister  views  in  their  possessions; 
for  they  gain  their  living  by  their  own  industry,  and  their  preachers  re- 
ceive not  a  cent  of  pay  in  money  or  other  value  of  earthly  goods  as  a 
compensation  for  preaching.  And  the  testimony  which  they  bear  against  •.. 
sin  in  nature  and  works,  including  the  visible  and  manifest  order  of  their  •'^ ' 
lives,  cuts  off  all  room  for  sensual  indulgences. 

No  doubt  the  suspicious  will  surmise  that  worldly  motives  are  the 
object  ;  but  as  the  most  judicious  cannot  point  out  the  room  for  such 
surmisings,  they  will  have  no  weight  with  the  candid.  And  believers 
being  able  to  live  thus  together,  supported  only  by  that  faith  and  re- 
velation which  they  profess,  to  live  without  any  external  bond,  in 
closer  communion  than  any  who  have  such  bonds,  to  live  in  freedom 
from  destructive  wars,  and  wasting  contentions  among  themselves, 
stand  as  a  lasting  monument  of  the  truth  of  the  faith  of  Christ  which 
they  profess,  and  of  their  being  built  on  the  true  foundation  as  well  as 
a  silencing  proof  of  the  truth  of  revelation,  and  of  those  Scriptures 
which  bear  witness  of  such  a  church,  because  experience  proves  that 
no  faith  one  side  of  that  which  is  grounded  on  revelation,  yea,  none 
one  side  of  the  faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  is  able  to  pro- 
duce such  fruits. 

*  1  Cor.  ill.  11.     t  2  Tim.  iii.  16. 


OF    GOD  S    ATTRIBUTES.  23 

The  Church  thus  built  upon  the  foundation  which  God  hath  laid  in 
Zion,  and  instructed  by  that  guide  whom  Christ  promised,  of  which 
promise  a  record  is  made  in  the  Scriptures  to  stand  as  a  lasting  wit- 
ness showing  who  is  the  guide  of  his  people ;  I  say,  the  Church  built 
on  that  foundation  and  instructed  by  that  guide,  is  not  subject  to  the 
fluctuation  and  inconstancy  to  which  those  are  subject  who  undertake 
to  build  on  the  Scriptures  as  their  foundation  and  director.  Most  of 
them  indeed  undertake  to  modify  that  foundation  to  their  own  under- 
standing, forming  systems,  as  they  say,  according  to  the  Scriptures  ; 
but  none  of  these  plans  are  able  to  keep'the  people  together  on  that 
principle,  during  a  revival  of  the  light  and  power  of  God  to  any  great 
extent,  however  they  may  answer  for  a  form  in  times  of  deep  insensi- 
bility or  profound  darkness. 

But  the  Church  of  God,  built  on  the  true  foundation,  and  taught 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  according  to  promise,  is  able  to  understand  the  Scrip- 
tures and  apply  them  to  their  right  use,  and  the  youngest  of  its  mem- 
bers possess  a  sufficiency  of  understanding  and  find  enough  of  the 
Spirit  to  keep  on  the  foundation  in  union.  And  the  unfaithful  cannot 
abide  ;  for  the  foundation  is  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a  rock  of  offence  to 
them  who  stumble  at  the  cross,  being  disobedient.  The  Church  on  this 
foundation  will,  in  its  progress,  wipe  off  all  reproach  from  the  name 
of  Christianity  and  confirm  the  truth  of  revelation. 

But  we  have  no  intention  of  treating  largely  on  this  subject,  or  of 
entering  minutely  into  the  arguments  and  obviating  the  objections  of 
naturalists  against  the  existence  of  God  or  the  truth  of  revelation,  as 
that  work  of  God  has  begun  on  the  earth,  which  in  its  progress  will 
obliterate  every  trace  of  infidelity  or  doubt  respecting  the  being  of 
God,  the  certainty  of  his  revelations  to  men,  or  the  truth  of  Christian- 
ity. In  the  mean  time,  what  is  here  stated  may  subserve  the  promo- 
tion of  that  work  of  God,  by  ministering  at  least  some  instructions  to 
honest  minds,  who  may  be  beset  with  the  flattering  baits  of  infidelity. 
But  the  publication  is  mainly  intended  for  those  who  believe  in  the 
being  of  God  and  acknowledge  the  propriety  of  worshipping  him. 


CHAPTER    III. 


OF    GOD,  IN    A    COMPENDIOUS    VIEW    OF    HIS    ATTRIBUTES. 

I  coMK,  in  the  next  place,  to  speak  of  God  in  relation  to  his  crea- 
tures. God  is  the  author  of  the  heavens  and  earth,  the  creator  of 
all  worlds,  the  fountain-head,  of  whom  and  for  whom  all  his  creatures 
were  made,  and  by  whom  they  live. 

The  first  thing  to  be  considered  in  the  character  of  God  as  related 
to  his  creatures,  particularly  to  men,  with  whom  we  have  mainly  to 
do,  is  his  POWER.  His  eternal  power  is  clearly  seen  in  his  works, 
which  is  so  intimately  connected  with  his  Deity,  or  existence  as  God, 
that  it  is  seen  also.  (Rom.  i.  20.)  Power  is  indispensable  in  the  works 


24  OF  god's  attributes. 

of  God,  in  Ms  creation  and  providence.  It  was  necessary  tliat  God 
should  have  power  in  himself,  adequate  to  the  execution  aad  manage- 
ment of  the  works  which  he  intended,  and  that  he  should  have  in  him- 
self the  knowledge  that  he  did  actually  possess  that  power,  independ- 
ently of  all  other  beings.  He  is  at  no  loss  for  power.  These  things 
will  not  be  controverted  by  many. 

The  next  particular  to  be  noticed  in  contemplating  the  Divine  charac- 
ter, in  his  relation  to  his  creatures,  is  his  wisdom.  It  was  necessary 
that  God  should  possess  wiscjom  to  plan  his  works  in  the  best  manner  to 
effect  the  proposed  end  ;  so  that  his  true  character  might  appear  in  his 
works,  in  the  best  manner  possible,  his  own  glory  be  declared,  and  the 
happiness  of  his  creatures  secured  on  the  most  fair  and  elegible  terms, 
or  if  lost,  that  the  character  of  God  should  remain  unblemished  and 
finally  unimpeached,  and  the  unhappy  sinner  be  left  inexcusable,  to  con- 
fess and  deplore  his  own  folly  and  guilt.  "  Lo  !  this  only  have  I  found, 
that  God  hath  made  man  upright ;  but  they  have  sought  out  mai.y  in- 
ventions." (Eccl.  vii.  29.)  "Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together, 
saith  the  Lord."  "  Say  ye  to  the  righteous  that  it  shall  be  well  with 
him  ;  for  they  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings.  Woe  to  the  wicked  : 
it  shall  be  ill  with  him  ;  for  the  reward  of  his  hands  shall  be  given 
him."  (Isa.  i.  IS,  and  iii.  10.)  God's  wisdom  appears  in  his  works, 
and  is  more  and  more  conspicuous  as  men  become  acquainted  with  his 
ways.  But  his  wisdom  is  like  himself,  incomprehensible  by  the  finite 
mind.  "  O  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge 
of  God  !  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding 
out!"  (Rom.  xi.  33.)  The  wisdom  of  God  is  the  fountain-head  of  all 
the  little  portions  of  wisdom  in  men,  which  he  bestows  as  thej'  have 
need.  Thus  God  gave  wisdom  to  Solomon  ;  and  saith  James,  "  If  any 
of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God,  who  giveth  to  all  men  liber- 
ally and  upbraideth  not;  and  it  shall  be  given  him.  But  let  him  ask  in 
faith."  (Ja.  i.  5.  6.)  But  that  God  doth  inherit  in  himself  an  inex- 
haustible fountain  of  wisdom  will  be  readily  acknowledged. 

His  KNOWLEDGE  is  intimately  connected  with  his  wisdom  in  the  or- 
der of  his  attributes.  Thus  the  apostle  speaketh  of  the  depth  of  the 
riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God.  His  knowledge  may 
be  considered  as  the  offspring  or  emanation  of  wisdom,  and  viewed  as 
having  a  special  relation  towards  the  objects  on  which  it  fixes,  or  the 
works  of  God,  and  those  of  his  creatures,  which  are  the  objects  of  his  no- 
tice and  attention.  That  God's  knowledge  is  equal  to  all  demands,  or 
that  there  is  no  lack  of  knowledge  in  God,  and  that  it  is  unlimited  in 
and  of  himself,  its  source  being  inexhaustible,  will  be  readily  granted. 
"  Known  unto  God  are  all  his  works  from  the  beginning  of  the  world." 
"  In  whom  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge."  (Acts 
XV.  18.  Col.  ii.  3.)  But  the  knowledge  of  God  will  come  into  con- 
sideration hereafter. 

God's  RIGHTEOUSNESS  and  JUSTICE  come  next  in  order,  being  essen- 
tially one  ;  but  the  first  of  which,  if  any  distinction  be  made,  may  be 
considered  as  the  inherent  and  necessary  attribute  of  God,  from  which 
the  second  issues  forth  and  is  inseparable  from  all  his  works  and  ways, 
which  are  all  righteous,  just  and  equal.  "  Shall  not  the  judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right  .'"'  And  again,  "The  Lord  is  righteous."  And  again, 
"  The  Lord  our  God  is  righteous  in  all  his  works  which  he  doeth." 


OF  god's  attributes.  25 

The  righteousness  and  justice  of  God,  in  connection  with  his  power, 
wisdom,  and  the  like,  are  the  defence  of  all  truth  and  righteousness  in 
men,  as  well  as  the  source  from  which  spring  the  protection  and  confi- 
dence of  all  just  men,  by  which  a  happy  event  is  secured  to  them. 
"  For  the  rod  of  the  wicked  shall  not  rest  upon  the  lot  of  the  right- 
eous." "  For  the  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness."  "  Say  ye  to 
the  righteous,  that  it  shall  be  well  with  him  ;  for  they  shall  eat  the 
fruit  of  their  doings."  (Psm.  cxxv.  3.  and  xi.  7.  Isa.  iii.  10.)  So  that 
no  man  need  be  afraid  to  practise  righteousness,  because  of  the  present 
sufferings  and  reproach,  while  God  is  righteous  who  stands  engaged  for 
the  issue.  All  acknowledge  God's  righteousness  in  words,  though 
many  maintain  such  sentiments  concerning  God  as  greatly  tarnish  his 
character,  not  to  say  they  would  utterly  supplant  all  righteousness  and 
justice  in  him  and  his  works.  But  we  will  take  a  more  familiar  and 
free  contemplation  on  this  subject  in  the  sequel. 

"  God  is  love."  It  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt  to  point  out  in 
words  the  whole  character  of  God  in  its  true  colors  :  The  only  design 
of  what  is  here  stated  is  to  take  a  compendious  view  of  the  attributes 
of  God  as  he  stands  related  to  men,  amongst  which  that  of  love  is  by 
no  means  to  be  omitted,  being  that  which  he  hath  set  forth  in  the  Gospel, 
as  the  uniting  cord  between  God  and  men  ;  "  God  is  love  ;  and  he  that 
dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God,  and  God  in  him."  "  For  God  so 
loved  the  v/orld,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  (1  Jno. 
iv.  16.  and  Jno,  iii.  16.)  And  abundantly  more  to  the  same  purport. 
But  I  must  not  in  this  place  give  a  loose  rein  to  feelings  on  this  subject, 
as  J  should  be  carried  too  far  from  the  present  design. 

The  GOODNESS  of  God  may  be  considered  as  the  handmaid  and  the 
offspring  of  love.  Goodness,  as  well  as  love,  and  all  the  rest,  is  proper- 
ly an  attribute  or  quality,  and  not  a  foundation  or  primary  existence. 
And  without  love  there  can  be  no  goodness,  and  without  righteousness 
and  justice  there  can  be  no  true  love  or  goodness,  and  without  power 
and  wisdom  and  knowledge,  there  could  be  no  righteousness,  or  jus- 
tice, or  love,  or  goodness  in  God.  God  is  perfect,  and  no  part  of  his 
character  can  be  lacking  or  rejected,  without  rejecting  God.  The  good- 
ness of  God  is  made  known  to  men  in  the  works  of  nature  and  grace, 
or  in  the  accommodations  for  the  support  and  comfort  of  the  body,  in 
return  for  which  all  are  called  to  be  exercised  with  gratitude,  and  in 
the  provision  which  he  has  made  in  Christ  for  the  salvation  of  the  soul 
by  the  Gospel,  in  return  for  which,  and  influenced  by  a  just  respect 
to  the  recompense  of  reward,  all  honest  men  devote  themselves  and 
their  all  to  God  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  "  For  the  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us."     (2  Cor.  v.  14.) 

The  MERCY  of  God  may  be  viewed  as  comprehended  in  his  love  and 
goodness.  This,  though  properly  an  attribute  of  God,  the  principle  of 
which  is  necessarily  included  in  his  character,  hath  no  place  to  exer- 
cise itself  without  having  respect  to  creatures  in  distress,  or  some  state 
of  wretchedness,  want  or  dependence,  as  it  hath  particular  relation  to 
misery,  that  is,  something  to  move  mercy  or  pity,  and  especially  so,  as 
it  is  exercised  towards  the  fallen  race.  And  out  of  this  state  of  things 
the  term  mercy  seems  to  have  arisen.  Nevertheless,  that  original  attri- 
bute or  perfection  of  Deity,  as  it  exists  essentially  in  him,  and  by 


26  OF  god's  attributes. 

which  he  is  moved  to  relieve  the  distressed,  is  essentially  and  un- 
changeably the  same,  and  cciuld  have  been  exercised  towards  his  de- 
pendent creatures,  who  would  always  have  stood  in  need  of  his  aid, 
had  they  never  known  sin  or  guilt  or  any  of  the  wages  of  sin.  No 
doubt  the  impression  of  this  essential  attribute  in  Deity,  produced  from 
the  heart  and  tongue  of  Zacharias  that  rich  expression,  "  through  the 
tender  mercies  of  our  God ;"  in  the  Greek,  through  the  compassionate 
bowels  of  the  mercy  of  our  God.  The  Hebrew  word  also,  [iDn]  so 
often  translated  mercy,  is  considered  as  denoting  the  deepest  emotions 
and  strongest  affections  of  the  heart,  as  those  between  parents  and  chil- 
dren ;  which  the  Greeks  expressed  by  [s'op/'^,*]  innate  love,  or  that 
which  is  natural  to  the  order  of  beings  towards  their  own  offspring, 
relatives,  and  finally  to  all. 

God's  holiness  is  so  universally  acknowledged  and  ascribed  to  him 
by  all,  that  nothing  need  be  said  to  gain  the  consent  of  mankind,  that 
it  is  an  essential  attribute.  Without  that  infinite  contrariety  to  sin,  and 
opposition  to  everything  wicked  or  impure,  called  holiness,  there  could 
be  no  God — without  holiness,  no  mercy,  no  goodness,  no  love,  no  jus- 
tice, no  righteousness,  no  wisdom,  no  power  in  an  original  subject,  no 
light,  no  truth.  Accordingly  in  all  the  ascriptions  of  praise  to  God, 
holiness  has  a  leading  place.  Thus  in  Isaiah's  vision  of  the  Lord,  he 
heard  one  crying  to  another  and  saying,  "Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of 
hosts;  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory.  (Isa.  vi.3.)  And  in  the  vision 
which  John  had  of  the  Church  of  God,  the  four  living  creatures,  each 
of  whom  had  six  wings  as  had  the  seraphim  seen  by  Isaiah,  and  who  were 
full  of  e3'es  within,  "  Rest  not  day  and  night,  saying,  Holy,  holy,  holy, 
Lord  God  Almighty,  who  wast  and  art  and  art  to  come.''  (Rev.  iv.  8.) 

But  the  holiness  of  God  is  particularly  proper  and  necessary  to  be 
remembered  on  account  of  its  practical  use.  For  as  God  is  essen- 
tially and  necessarily  holy,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  he  can  possibly 
acknowledge  an  unholy  being  in  that  intimate  and  near  relation  to 
him,  which  accompanies  salvation.  The  necessity  of  holiness  in  the 
people  of  God  was  early  taught.  "  Ye  shall  be  holy  :  for  I  the  Lord 
your  God  am  holy.  (Lev.  xix.  2.)  And  when  Christ  appeared  who 
first  revealed  the  perfect  way,  in  which  alone  men  could  become  holy, 
the  exhortation  was  not  forgotten  :  "  But  as  he  who  hath  called  you 
is  holy,  so  be  ye  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation  because  it  is  writ- 
ten, Be  ye  holy  ;  for  I  am  holy."  Accordingly  the  people  of  God  are 
habitually  represented  as  a  holy  people  ;  and  although  under  the  law 
they  could  be  no  more  than  ceremonially  holy,  it  is  not  so  in  the  Gospel ; 
"  For  the  law  made  nothing  perfect,  but  the  bringing  in  of  a  better 
hope  doth  ;  by  the  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God."  (Heb.   vii.   19.) 

*  This  is  that  natural  affection  of  which  the  Apostle  represents  some  of  the 
heathen  as  being  destitute,  oig'Spyovg,  without  natural  affection,  or  having  no  de- 
sire for  the  happiness  of  others.  (Rom.  i.  31.)  This  is  the  natural  affection  or 
compassionate  disposition  common  to  the  human  family,  and  which  to  violate 
is  iniquity.  This  is  it  which  is  so  often  construed  into  the  lusts  of  tlie  fiesh, 
or  sexual  propensities,  by  modern  devotees  to  a  carnal  life,  who  object  to  living 
a  life  of  crucifixion  to  the  flesh  with  the  affections  and  lusts,  after  the  example 
of  Christ,  lest  by  renouncing  the  fleshly  works  of  the  first  Adam  they  should 
fall  under  the  apostolic  reprobation  and  lose  their  relation  to  Christ  the  quicken- 
ing Spirit. 


OF  god's  attributes.  27 

This  doctrine  of  holiness  utterly  supplants  and  finally  overthrows  the 
notion  of  any  man  or  people  being  Christians  unless  they  have  found 
that  which  takes  avs^ay  all  sin  and  saves  them  from  all  unholiness. 
Those,  therefore,  who  pretend  to  be  Christians  while  they  commit  sin, 
or  acknowledge  they  do,  are  to  be  judged  out  of  their  own  mouth ; 
and  those  also  who  profess,  and  yet  teach  that  Christians  are  all  subject 
to  commit  sin,  are  to  be  esteemed  mockers  of  the  work  of  Christ. 
"  He  who  despised  Moses'  law,  died  without  mercy,  under  two  or 
three  witnesses  ;  of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  suppose  ye,  shall  he 
be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and 
hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanctified, 
an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  grace.  (Heb.  x. 
28,  29. 

God  is  truth.  Nothing  can  with  more  propriety  be  attributed  to 
God  than  truth.  His  Spirit  is  truth  ;  his  word  is  truth  ;  Jesus  the  Son 
of  God,  the  Word  who  was  made  flesh,  is  truth^  and  dwelt  amongst  us 
full  of  grace  and  truth.  Without  truth  there  could  be  no  holiness,  no 
righteousness,  no  justice,  nor  any  thing  else  truly  valuable  or  excellent. 
To  lack  truth  is  inconsistent  with  the  respectable  and  good  character 
of  a  man,  and  how  much  more  must  such  an  insinuation  reflect  dis- 
honour on  the  character  of  the  righteous  Judge  of  all  the  earth,  the 
God  who  cannot  lie.  Yet  many  seem  to  hope,  as  the  great  source  of 
their  comfort,  that  God  will  not  fulfill  his  word  in  all  things  against  sin, 
laying  judgment  to  the  line  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet.  They 
hope  that  the  soul  that  sinneth  shall  not  surely  die,  believing  the  devil, 
the  father  of  lies  more  than  God  who  cannot  lie,  and  that  they  shall 
have  peace  though  they  add  drunkenness  to  thirst,  or  at  least  are  sin- 
ful and  not  holy.  But  these  know  not  that  relation  to  the  God  of  truth 
which  accompanies  salvation. 

After  this  cursory  view  of  the  character  and  attributes  of  God, 
which  comprehends  those  most  commonly  spoken  of,  I  thought  to 
have  desisted  from  this  part  and  to  have  proceeded  to  the  main  body 
of  the  work,  as  it  relates  more  immediately  to  those  things  which  are 
influential  on  the  practice.  But  while  1  look  into  the  writings  of  the 
apostles,  I  see  another  character  or  attribute  ascribed  to  God,  which 
seems  to  pervade  and  comprehend  the  whole,  and  is  of  so  much  conse- 
quence to  Uving  Christianity,  that  I  cannot  feel  my  mind  relieved  with- 
out noticing  it.  The  following  words  communicate  the  subject  matter 
of  this  attribute. 

God  is  light,  and  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all,"  (1  Jno.  i.  5.) 
When  we  speak  of  light  as  pertaining  to  the  character  of  God,  or  of 
God  as  being  light,  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  this  light  is  limited 
to  God  as  peculiarly  belonging  to  him,  and  making  manifest  to  him  his 
own  character,  purposes  and  works,  together  with  the  character  and 
works  of  his  creatures  ;  but  also  that  every  one  who  cometh  to  the 
knowledge  of  God  is  a  partaker  of  that  perfect  light  which  is  the 
true  God,  according  to  the  degree  of  his  acquaintance  with  God  ;  so 
that  no  man  can  with  any  propriety  be  called  a  Christian,  or  be  said  to 
know  God  as  he  is  revealed  in  Christ,  unless  he  also  walk  in  that 
light  which  is  God,  as  Christ  also  walked.  For  any  one  therefore  to 
walk  in  darkness,  or  not  to  enjoy  that  perfect  light  and  knowledge  of 
the  truth,  by  which  he  is  delivered  from  all  uncertainty  or  doubt  about 


28  OF  god's  attributes. 

the  true  way  of  God  and  eternal  life,  and  about  his  own  character  and 
standing  before  God,  is  incompatible  vrith  being  a  Christian,  or  true 
follower  of  Christ.  "  This,  then,  is  the  message  which  we  have  heard 
of  him,  and  declare  to  you,  that  God  is  light  and  in  him  is  no  darkness 
at  ail.  If  we  say  that  we  ha%^e  fellowship  with  him,  and  walk  in 
darkness,  we  lie,  and  do  not  the  truth  :  but  if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as 
he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  his  Sou  cleansethus  from  all  sin."  (1  Jno.  i.  5,6,  7,)  The 
inference  is  clearly  to  the  point,  that  because  God  is  light,  therefore  his 
people  walk  in  the  light  as  he  is  in  the  light,  for  he  walketh  in  them, 
as  it  is  written  again,  "  I  will  dwell  in  them  and  walk  in  them,  and  I 
will  be  their  God  and  they  shall  be  my  people."  (2.  Cor.  vi.  ]6.) 
Equally  clear  is  the  doctrme  of  Christ  from  his  own  mouth,  showing 
that  because  he  is  light  the  people  who  follow  him  are  freed  from 
wandering  in  uncertainty  or  walking  in  darkness  ;  "  I  am  the  light  of 
the  world;  he  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life."  (Jno.  viii.  12.)  This  is  true  Gospel  language. 
Much  darkness  was  consistent  v/ith  being  an  honest  Jew,  under  the 
law,  which  was  at  best  but  a  shadow  ;  but  we  speak  not  of  Jews  but 
of  Christians ;  and  we  never  read  in  the  holy  Scriptures  of  an  uncer- 
tain or  a  doubting  Christian  ;  they  know  in  whom  they  have  believed, 
and  they  know  that  they  are  of  God  by  the  Spirit  which  he  hath  given 
them,  and  the  Spirit  is  truth. 

The  pernicious  sentiment,  so  very  prevalent  among  professors,  that 
men  may  be  Christians  and  yet  remain  in  great  doubt  and  uncertainty 
whether  they  are  Christians  or  not,  is  such  a  destructive  heresy,  and 
such  a  powerful  engine  to  retain  people  asleep  in  sin,  that  it  ought 
to  be  pierced  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  wherever  it  is  accessible  ; 
and  for  this  cause,  notwithstanding  that  the  subject  is  more  extensively 
treated  in  another  place,  1  have  been  particular  to  notice  it  here,  as 
being  counteracted  by  this  doctrine,  that  God  is  light,  and  that  they 
who  are  of  God  dwell  in  the  light,  that  the  reader  may  have  the  im- 
pression of  the  truth  of  God  fixed  in  his  heart,  as  it  were  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  know  that  they  who  are  Christians  indeed  walk  in  the 
light  of  God,  being  partakers  of  his  divine  nature. 

I  have  been  the  more  careful  to  make  some  practical  remarks  on 
the  character  and  attributes  of  God,  that  readers  may  be  impressed 
with  some  influential  sense  of  what  a  man  must  be,  when  he  becomes 
a  son  of  God  in  Christ  ;  that  he  must  be  like  God  in  all  the  graces  of 
the  Spirit;  for  as  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  the  first  true  tabernacle  of 
God  among  men,  which  the  Lord  pitched,  and  who  is  the  head  of 
the  body,  the  Church,  had  the  fullness  of  the  Deity  dwelling  in  him 
bodily  ;  so  each  and  all  of  the  members  who,  in  union  with  the  head, 
constitute  the  true  body  or  church,  which  is  Christ,  are  partakers  of 
the  same  Spirit  and  same  divine  nature,  that  God  may  be  all  and  in  all. 
"  And  of  his  fullness  have  all  we  received,  and  grace  according  to 
grace."  And  the  glory,"  said  Jesus  to  the  Father,  "which  thou 
gavest  me,  I  have  given  them ;  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are 
one." — "  Now  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of 
his."     (Jno.  i.  16.  and  xvii.  22.     Rom.  viii.  9.) 

I  have  not  in  this  small  tract  been  careful  to  follow  the  order  of 
systematics,  in  their  distributions  and  arrangements  of  the  attributes  of 


OP  god's  attributes.  29 

God  ;  neither  have  I  proposedly  taken  into  view  all  which  they  enu- 
merate, as  his  infinity,  eternity,  unchangeableness,  omniscience,  and  the 
like.  Neither  have  I  attended  to  the  usual  distribution  of  communi- 
cable and  incommunicable,  or  the  famous  distinction  of  the  justice  of 
God  into  distributive,  remunerative  and  vindictive,  with  many  other 
distinctions  which  one  or  another  has  named,  who  knew  not  what  he 
said  or  whereof  he  affirmed.  But  my  leading  object  in  stating  what  I 
have  done  in  this  place  is  to  open  the  way  for  what  is  yet  to  be  said. 

Nevertheless,  let  it  be  remembered,  with  respect  to  the  attributes 
of  God,  that  no  one  of  them,  neither  all  of  them  together,  compre- 
hend God  so  as  to  enable  us  to  know  definitively  what  God  is.  He 
is  incomprehensible.  We  cannot  know  God  except  as  he  reveals  him- 
self in  his  character,  his  attributes  and  his  works.  We  cannot  have 
any  just  conceptions  of  God  as  lacking  any  one  attribute  belonging 
to  the  perfection  of  his  character,  and  yet  when  we  view  all  these  to 
the  extent  of  our  sphere,  there  is  yet  that  behind  of  his  Essence  and 
Being,  of  which  we  are  ignorant.  All  these  attributes,  or  perfections, 
are  qualities  none  of  which  can  exist  abstractedly  or  alone.  Thus  if 
we  speak  of  his  holiness — holiness  is  a  quality  which  implies  a  being, 
as  it  were,  previously  extant,  to  be  holy,  or  a  t)eing  capable  of  contain- 
ing holiness.  If  we  speak  of  love,  love  is  a  quality  or  attribute  of 
some  being  presupposed  by  the  very  naming  of  this  attribute.  If  we 
speak  of  goodness,  goodness  is  also  an  attribute  or  perfection  of  some 
being  or  existence  presupposed  or  at  least  included  in  the  thought ;  and 
so  of  the  rest.  Yet  so  intimately  and  essentially  do  these  perfections 
belong  to  the  very  essence  of  his  nature  and  being,  that  we  may  say 
in  truth  and  with  safety,  that  God  is  truth,  God  is  light,  God  is  love, 
God  is  holiness  ;  for  there  is  nothing  in  God  but  what  is  truth,  there  is 
nothing  in  God  but  what  is  light,  there  is  nothing  in  God  but  what  is 
love,  there  is  nothing  in  God  but  what  is  holiness  ;  and  so  of  the  rest. 
On  the  whole,  no  one  can  have  any  just  conception  of  God  otherwise 
than  as  his  character  is  revealed  in  his  word  and  works  ;  neither  can 
any  have  a  just  and  correct  knowledge  of  God,  even  by  revelation, 
any  farther  than  as  they  grow  into  an  acquaintance  with  him  by  travel- 
ling into  the  same  nature  in  the  work  of  redemption  and  holiness,  by 
the  Gospel. 

Nevertheless,  according  to  the  privilege  given  to  us  in  the  revela- 
tions which  he  makes  of  himself,  to  teach  us  our  duty  and  our  rela- 
tion to  him,  we  may  talk  freely  of  his  character  and  his  works,  in  the 
things  which  pertain  to  our  salvation  and  redemption.  For  God  hath 
revealed  himself  in  Christ,  that  in  our  sphere  we  may  know  him  with 
certainty  in  all  his  character,  and  speak  of  him  with  safety.  So  that 
while  on  the  one  hand,  we  are  unable  fully  to  comprehend  all  or  any 
one  of  the  perfections  of  Deity,  God  being  incomparably  superior  to 
man  ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  nothing  in  God  Vt'hich,  in  our  sphere, 
and  to  the  extent  thereof,  we  may  not  know  with  certainty  and  safety, 
as  "fast  as  \fe  overcome  evil.  For  although  no  man  hath  seen  God 
abstractedly,  at  any  time,  yet  the  only  begotten  Son  who  is  in  the  bo- 
som of  the  Father  hath  revealed  him — hath  revealed  God,  whole 
Gqii,  in  himself  who  is  the  brightness  of  his  glory  and  the  character 
of  his  person  or  subsistence.  And  nothing  short  of  the  correct  and 
perfect  knowledge  of  God  in  his  whole  character  can  ever  complete 


30  OF    GOD  3    ATTRIBUTES. 

the  happiness  of  man,  who  was  created  in  the  image  of  God.  And  for 
this  cause  he  hath  sent  his  Son  into  the  world,  in  whom  dwelt  all  the 
fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,  to  be  our  example  and  to  revt-al  God  to 
us,  that  we  might  find  salvation  in  being  conformed  to  the  image  of  his 
Son,  and  so  to  God  himself,  and  in  no  other  way.  Thus  God's  people 
live  as  knowing  the  unknowable,  and  seeing  him  Vv'ho  is  invisible. 

''  God  is  a  Spirit,"  or  more  properly  and  emphatically,  "  God  is 
Spirit.  This  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  Greek  text,  and  con- 
veys a  much  more  noble  sentiment  of  God,  and  fixes  on  the  mind  a 
more  noble  impression,  than  to  say,  he  is^a  Spirit^  as  though  he  were 
a  circumscribed  or  limited  being.  There  are  many  spirits,  all  limited 
and  dependent  beings;  butthere  is  one  God,  independent,  and  in  all  his 
character  and  perfections  unlimited.  But  God  is  Spirit;  and  is  there- 
fore the  proper  fountain  from  v/hom  all  created  spirits  proceed.  More- 
over God  is  Spirit  ;  it  is  therefore  no  marvel  that  he  is  not  satisfied 
with  fleshly  or  material  worship  ;  "  God  is  Spirit ;  and  they  that  wor- 
ship him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth,"  (Jno.  iv.  24.) 
And  no  marvel  that  God  will  increase  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  his 
people  until  they  are  finally  redeemed  in  the  Spirit  and  the  flesh  made 
void.  And  what  if  we  should  say  that  God  is  Spirit,  comes  nearer  to 
pointing  out  what  God  is,  in  his  real  Being  or  Essence,  than  any  other 
name,  character  or  attribute,  ascribed  to  him  by  the  Spirit  of  revelation, 
not  even  excepting  the  name  by  which  he  was  made  known  to  Moses, 
I  AM  THAT  I  AM,  or  I  WILL  BE  WHAT  I  WILL  BE,  expressing  his  un- 
changeableness  and  independence  ?  We  can  have  some  understanding, 
according  to  our  sphere,  of  the  existence  of  a  Being  who  is  Spirit  in 
the  abstract,  as  a  primary  Being  or  foundation  existence,  independent 
of  any  distinct  being,  attribute  or  quality,  and  yet  as  it  were  the  proper 
basis  for  all  good  qualities,  and  without  all  and  every  one  of  which  we 
cannot  conceive  of  that  Spirit,  that  Existence,  whom  we  call  God. 
Spirit  is  a  real  existence  ;  a  proper  agent  ;  a  subject  of  power,  of 
righteousness,  holiness,  love,  and  the  like.  A  Being  who  is  Spirit 
is  also  the  proper  subject  of  volition  and  free  agency.  But  if  we 
speak  of  love  it  is  not  an  independent  idea  ;  it  presupposes  some  sub- 
ject or  agent  to  inherit  and  exercise  that  love.  If  we  speak  of  jus- 
tice ;  it  presupposes  a  Being  who  is  just,  distinct  from  the  idea  of 
justice,  as  its  possessor's  seat,  or  the  place  of  its  habitation.  If  we  speak 
of  light  ;  though  by  some  supposed  to  be  a  real  body,  it  seems  near- 
est the  truth  to  say,  that  it  presupposes  some  being  capable  of  illumi- 
nation and  reflection,  and  that  where  there  is  no  body  to  contain  light 
there  can  be  no  light.  If  we  speak  of  power  or  wisdom,  it  is  a  de- 
pendent idea,  presupposing  a  Being  powerful  or  wise  ;  and  so  of  the 
rest. 

But  when  we  say  that  God  is  Spirit,  we  express  the  idea  of  an  ex- 
istence, not  material  yet  real,  capable  of  volition  and  agency  ;  I  say 
we  conceive  and  express  the  idea  of  the  Being  of  God,  according  to 
our  sphere,  for  beyond  that  he  is  incomprehensible  to  us,  we  know 
nothing  ;  and  the  circle  of  our  knowledge  is  small  in  the  infinite  I 
AM.  Yet  when  we  say  God  is  Spirit,  we  can  conceive  that  that  Spirit 
is  capable  of  volition  and  agency;  and  is  also  capable  of  possessing 
in  himself  as  his  essential  qualities,  attributes  or  perfections,  poweVj 
wisdom,  rhjhteousness  and  justice,  holiness,  truth,  goodness,  love,  mercy, 


WHAT    A    DECREE    IS.  31 

light,  independence^  self-existence^  and  the  like.  Accordingly,  when  we 
speak  or  read  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  is  God  the  Spirit ;  if  of  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  we  have  respect  to  God  the  Spirit,  who  is  Truth  ;  that 
Spirit  who  could  not  exist  or  ever  have  existed  without  truth  ;  if  of 
the  Spirit  of  holiness,  it  is  God  the  Spirit,  who  is  holy,  essentially  holy 
in  his  very  nature  ;  if  of  the  love  of  God,  or  Spirit  of  love,  it  is  no 
other  than  God  the  Spirit  who  is  love,  "  For  God  is  love,  and  whoso- 
ever dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God  and  God  in  him  •,"  if  of  the 
Spirit  of  unity  in  the  bond  of  peace,  it  is  none  else  but  that  Spirit  who 
is  God,  and  is  one,  in  himself  and  all  who  know  him,  being  in  them 
and  to  them,  the  uniting  bond  in  abiding  peace  towards  God  and  one 
another.  Thus  when  a  man  receives  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  receives 
God  who  is  Spirit ;  and  when  the  Spirit  of  Christ  abideth  in  any  man, 
he  hath  abiding  in  him  that  God  who  is  Spirit ;  and  he  hath  both  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  "  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  my 
Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you."  "If  a  man  love  me,  he  will 
keep  my  words  :  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto 
him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him."  (Jno.  xiv.  20,  23.) 


CHAPTER   IV. 

OF    THE    NATURE  OF    GOd's    DECREES  ;    OR,  WHAT    A    DECREE    IS. 

It  hath  been  already  admitted  that  God  works  according  to  plan  ; 
and  that  in  that  plan  of  things,  wisdom  is  profitable  to  direct.  "  The 
Lord  possessed  me,"  saith  Wisdom,  "  in  the  beginning  of  his  way, 
before  his  works  of  old."  (Pro.  viii.  22.)  And  that  God's  plans  are 
noost  free,  according  to  his  own  understanding  and  wisdom,  and  with- 
out his  being  influenced  by  the  desires  or  wishes  of  any  other  being, 
or  any  exterior  cause  whatever,  will  likely  not  be  denied  by  any  who 
have  the  knowledge  of  "  Him  who  workelh  all  things  according  to  the 
counsel  of  his  own  will."  Neither  can  it  well  be  denied  that  God's 
plans  are  consistent  with  each  perfection  of  his  nature.  As  there  is  no 
jar  in  the  perfections  or  attributes  of  Deity,  it  is  impossible  that  God 
should  lay  any  plan,  or  fix  any  decree,  by  which  mercy  would  be  sacri- 
ficed to  justice  or  justice  to  mercy,  righteousness  justice  or  truth,  be 
sacrificed  to  power,  wisdom,  independence,  self-sufficiency,  his  own 
glory,  or  any  thing  whatever.  For  although  the  glory  of  God  is  the 
ultimate  end  of  all  his  works,  as  well  as  the  greatest  happiness  and 
highest  perfection  of  his  creatures,  whatever  is  planned  or  executed  for 
the  praise  of  his  glory,  is  all  done  in  perfect  union  with  righteousness, 
truth,  equity  and  every  other  perfection  in  God.  So  that,  speaking 
after  the  manner  of  men,  we  maj'^  say  he  consults  all  these  in  the  plans 
which  he  lays  out,  or  the  decrees  which  he  makes  ;  and  that  all  is 
done  according  to  the  understanding  and  reason  with  which  man  is 
indued  by  the  Creator,  insomuch  that  each  one  will  see  and  be  satis- 
fied of  the  propriety  of  each  plan  or  decree,  in  the  event  of  his  accept- 


32  WHAT    A    DECREE    IS. 

ance  and  salvation,  or  convinced  in  the  event  of  his  rejection  and  dam- 
nation. For  neither  is  it  possible,  that  God  should  lay  any  plan  or 
make  any  decree,  which  would  contradict  or  thwart  the  intelligence, 
reason  or  free  agency  with  which  man  is  indued  by  his  Creator,  as  be- 
ing his  offspring.  Because,  take  away  man's  reason  and  free  agency, 
or  require  that  which  is  contrary  thereto  and  out  of  man's  reach,  and 
he  is  no  more  amenable  for  his  actions,  or  subject  to  praise  or  blame. 
But  of  this  hereafter. 

The  decrees  of  God  may  be  divided  into  two  general  classes.  The 
first  class  comprehends  all  the  purposes  of  God,  concerning  what  he 
intends  to  do  immediately  as  at  the  beginning,  or  by  the  agency  of  his 
creatures  at  any  time  after  they  had  an  existence  in  their  proper  order. 
The  fixed  determination  of  God  to  effectuate  such  works  as  he  sees 
are  necessary  and  proper,  may  be  properly  called  a  decree.  The  se- 
cond class  comprehends  those  things  which  creatures  are  required  to  do 
as  acts  of  obedience  to  God's  will,  and  on  the  doing  of  which  their  own 
acceptance  depends,  as.  If  ye  he  ■willing  and  obedient  ye  shall  eat  the  good 
of  the  land.  Or  any  established  law  or  rule  for  the  people,  may  be  called 
a  decree,  as  the  sentence  passed  by  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusa- 
lem concerning  circumcision.  So  a  determinate  rule  of  court  is  call- 
ed a  decree  of  the  court,  and  the  courtiers  are  required  to  observe  it, 
and  in  case  of  violation  are  punishable. 

The  decrees  of  God  are  to  be  known  and  understood  by  the  revela- 
tion of  his  true  character,  the  declai-ation  of  his  will  by  the   word  re- 
vealed, and  by  the  works  of  creation  and  providence,  or  by  the  works 
of  nature  and   grace.       Beyond  these   sources  we  have  no  occasion  to 
inquire  after  the  decrees  of  God  ;  these  are  suflScient ;  for  God  doth 
not  work  inconsiderately ;  what  he  doeth  he  purposed  to  do,  and  that 
which  he   requireth  his  creatures   to   do,  is  also  according  to  counsel. 
Neither  is  it  to  be  forgotten  that  in   all  God's   decrees  and  works,  he 
hath  consulted  the  good  of  his  creatures  as  really  as  his  own  glory  ;  for 
notwithstanding  that  his  own  glory  is  his  ultimate  end,  the  happiness  and 
final  glorification  of  his  creatures,  each  in  his  proper  sphere  and  lot,  are 
so  connected  with  his  glory,  that  the  one  serves  to  promote  the  other. 
And  it  is  not  possible  it  should  be  otherwise  ;  because,  for  God  to  cre- 
ate beings  capable  of  everlasting  happiness  and  not  have  respect  there- 
to, in  all  his  purposes  and  works,  would  tarnish  his  glory  and  be  incom- 
patible with  his  goodness,  love,  mercy  and  other  attributes  ;  and  it  is 
also  impossible  that  creatures,  as  men  are,  created  in  the  image  of  God 
and  after  his  likeness,  should  be  happy  and  not  glorify  God.   True  hap- 
piness, therefore,  in  the  proper  sphere   and  order  which  belong  to  men, 
as  the  offspring  and  accountable  creatures  of  God,  is   a  justifiable  mo- 
tive to  duly,  and  not  contrary  to  the  purposes  of  God  5  a  motive  which 
God  uniformly  proposes  to  induce  men  to  obedience,  and  without  which 
no  motive  can  reach  them  to  profit,  in  a  state  of  nature,  fallen  as  it  is. 
And  whereas  God  promotes  his  own  glory  by  his  creatures,  through  their 
agency  and  the  good  which  he  doeth   for  them,  according  to  the  coun- 
sel and  wisdom  of  his  own  will,  although  it  remains  true,  that  a  man 
cannot  be  profitable  to  God  as  he  that  is  wise  may  be  profitable  to  him- 
self, yet  in  filling  up  the   purposes  of  obedience,  and  the  work  which 
God  hath  appointed  him  to  do,  a  man  may,  in  his  own  sphere,  be  pro- 
fitable to  God  in  the  promotion  of  his  glory. 


MAN,  god's  representative.  33 

But  we  are  particularly  interested  in  the  decrees  of  God,  and  the 
execution  of  them,  as  they  relate  to  men.  And  here  let  it  be  remem- 
bered according  to  what  has  been  already  stated,  that  it  is  impossible 
God  should  decree  any  thing  to  be  done  by  himself  or  otherwise,  un- 
less it  is  his  will  it  should  be  done.  This  is  a  natural  inference  from 
the  nature  and  character  of  God  as  he  is  revealed  to  men  :  he  is  not 
a  capricious,  uncertain  being  like  them  ;  "  He  is  of  one  mind."  It  would, 
indeed,  be  inconsistent  with  the  voluntary  and  free  agency  of  a  man, 
acting  without  constraint,  to  decree  any  thing  to  the  contrary  of  his 
own  will,  and  how  much  more  so  in  the  infinitely  free  and  perfect  Be- 
ing who  is  of  one  mind  and  none  can  turn  him,  and  to  whom  all  his 
works  are  known  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  This  is  a  first 
principle,  a  dictate  of  common  sense,  and  needs  no  farther  proof. 


CHAPTER     V. 


OF     MAN     AS     THE     IMAGE     AND     REPRESENTATIVE    OP    GOD,    AND    OF 
HIS    RESPONSIBILITY. 

That  God  created  man  according  to  his  purpose  or  decree,  needs 
not  be  denied  if  we  attend  to  the  counsel  or  reasoning  which  he  held 
at  his  creation.  "  And  God  said  :  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image, 
after  our  likeness,  and  let  them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the 
sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the 
earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth. 
So  0cod  created  man  in  his  own  image  ;  in  the  image  of  God 
created  he  him  ;  male  and  female  created  he  them.  And  God  blessed 
them  ;  and  God  said  to  them  :  Be  fruitful  and  multiply,  and  replen- 
ish the  earth,  and  subdue  it ;  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the 
sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that 
moveth  upon  the  earth."  Thus  man  was  created  of  God  a  living  be- 
ing as  his  representative  on  earth  ;  in  the  image  of  God,  as  it  were 
God  in  miniature,  the  image  and  glory  of  God ;  God  in  his  sphere, 
having  dominion  over  all;  yet  a  dependent  creature  of  God;  indued 
by  him  in  the  creation,  with  the  capability  of  propagating  his  own 
species,  the  offspring  of  himself  in  his  own  likeness.  This  capability 
of  propagation  was  found  in  the  co-operation  of  the  organs  of  the 
material  body  in  the  male  and  female  ;  which  material  body  stood  in 
so  intimate  a  relation  to  the  spirit  which  came  directly  from  God,  that 
the  two  constituted  in  each  one  distinct  person,  one  man  and  one  wo- 
man ;  so  that,  by  the  co-operation  of  the  procreative  powers  in  the 
male  and  the  female,  a  race  of  beings  were  propagatedand  continued, 
who  are  not  merely  material  bodies,  but  men  like  their  original  in  all 
their  physical  powers  and  properties.  Thus  mankind  are  the  image 
and  representatives  of  Deity  in  the  world,  to  this  day,  in  a  dignity 
superior  to  all  natural  creatures.  We  shall  consider  their  fall  and 
corruption  by  sin  hereafter. 

This  material  body  was  made  of  the  earth,  earthy  ;  adapted  to  serve 
4 


34  MAN,  god's  representative. 

as  a  liabitation  of  the  spirit,  and  to  answer  every  necessary  purpose 
for  the  time  being.  So  that  the  first  man  is  said  to  be  of  the  earth, 
earthy  ;  and  not  only  the  first  man,  but  all  his  posterity,  for  as  is  the 
earthy,  such  are  thet/  also  that  are  earthy.  Adam's  sons  are  like  him- 
self. But  the  spirit  was  given  of  God,  and,  as  a  rational  being,  is 
more  properly  the  representative  and  ofispringof  God  than  any  other 
creature  or  thing  in  the  natural  world,  and  that  in  which  the  man 
properly  and  finally  consists,  and  without  which  man  would  not  be  man 
in  his  proper  order.  "  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust' 
of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  ;  and 
man  became  a  living  soul" — indued  with  rational  intelligence.  In 
this  soul,  or  spirit,  man  is  capable  of  rising  again  to  God,  notwith- 
standing all  which  he  hath  sufi"ered  by  the  fall,  and  of  being  mani- 
festly the  image  and  glory  of  God,  in  the  redemption  which  is  in 
Chiist  Jesus  the  Lord  ;  for,  JBe  nho  is  joined  to  the  Lord  is  one  Spir- 
it;  and  again,  The  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven;  and  as  is  the 
heavenly  such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly. 

Thus  God,  in  the  execution  of  his  purpose  and  decree,  created  man 
to  be  the  true  representation  of  himself,  and  to  stand  as  the  image  and 
glory  of  God  forever,  and  so  to  declare  his  power  and  set  forth  his 
glory  more  perfectly  than  all  the  material  heavens  and  earth  could 
do  besides. 

But  man  transgressed  the  law  of  God,  violated  the  will  of  God 
made  known  to  him,  and  so  fell  from  his  proper  lot  and  place  in  which 
he  was  created.  It  appears  needless  to  consume  time  and  labour  in 
this  place  to  prove  this  point,  which  is  so  abundantly  acknowedged, 
and  on  which  so  much  hath  already  been  written.  All  man's  works 
from  his  infancy  declare,  that  they  spring  from  a  source  which  cannot 
pertain  to  God,  being  utterly  subversive  of  all  good.  All  men,  in  their 
natural  state,  evince  by  their  works  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures,  "  That 
God  hath  made  man  upright,  but  they  have  sought  out  many  inven- 
tions." (Eccl.  vii.  29.)  And  again  ;  "  There  is  none  righteous,  no  not 
one  ;  there  is  none  that  understandeth,  there  is  none  that  seeketk 
after  God  ;  they  are  all  gone  out  of  the  way,  they  are  altogether  be- 
come unprofitable  ;  there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no,  not  one  :  de- 
struction and  misery  are  in  their  ways ;  and  the  way  of  peace  have 
they  not  known;  there  is  no  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes." 

The  inquiry  at  present  is,  Did  God  decree  that  man  should  act  as 
he  did,  and  so  fall  from  his  primeval  state  of  rectitude  and  happiness  ? 
To  this  we  are  obliged,  by  the  force  of  truth,  to  answer  in  the  nega- 
tive ;  That  God  did  not  decree  that  man  should  commit  such  a  deed, 
neither  was  it  the  genuine  fruit  nor  necessary  consequence  of  any  of 
God's  appointments.  God  made  man  vpricjht,  but  they  have  soucjht 
out  many  mventions  for  themselves.  For,  as  before  stated,  it  is  impos- 
sible that  God  should  appoint  or  decree  any  thing  contrary  to  his  own 
•will  or  any  of  his  perfections  :  and  for  his  creatures  to  do  his  will,  or 
to  act  according  to  his  will  or  appointment  is  no  transgression,  but  obe- 
dience ;  and  no  fall  or  evil  consequence  could  be  the  result  of  such 
doiuf,  but  on  the  contrary  life  and  peace  ;  "  Not  every  one  thatsaith 
unto  me.  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  he 
that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  "  But  the  mer- 
cy of  the  Lord  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  upon  them  that  fear 


MAN,  god's  representative.  35 

tim,  and  iis  righteousness  to  children's  children ;  to  such  as  keep  his 
covenant,  and  to  those  that  remember  his  commandments  to  do  them." 
(Matt.  vii.  21.  Psa.  ciii.  17,  18.)  It  cannot  be  transgression  in  men 
to  act  as  they  are  called  to  act  by  God's  appointment ;  and  to  say 
that  it  was  necessary  that  man  should  sin  according  to  the  order  of 
his  creation,  or  by  God's  appointment,  is  to  say  that  God  is  the  proper 
and  primary  author  of  sin,  or  rather  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
sinning  against  God. 

It  was  no  doubt  necessary  that  man  should  be  tried  and  learn  by 
experience  to  resist  temptation ;  and  admitting  that  God  knew  that 
his  fall  would  be  the  result  of  his  trials,  that  was  not  to  prevent  God 
from  placing  him  in  those  circumstances  which  were  necessary  to 
that  experience  without  which  he  could  never  have  been  a  tried  and 
safe  subject  of  obedience,  or  a  safe  keeper  of  his  own  peace  and  hap- 
piness ;  especially  considering  that  God  gave  him  warning  of  his 
danger,  and  foretold  him  the  consequence  of  disobedience  :  "  In  the 
day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die."  But  it  was,  and 
still  is  impossible,  that  God  should  place  man  in  circumstances  where 
he  would  unavoidably  be  unnecessarily  tempted. 

But  if  God  did  not  decree  that  man  should  fall,  it  may  be  asked: 
Did  he  decree  or  appoint  that  he  should  not .?  To  this  we  may  answer 
in  the  affirmative,  that  God  did  pass  a  decree  that  man  should  not  sin 
or  fall ;  for  without  sinning  he  could  not  have  fallen.  This  decree 
was  the  law  of  God  which  man  broke,  and  by  the  violation  of  which 
he  fell.  For  without  such  a  decree,  he  could  not  have  sinned  ;  be- 
cause, "Where  there  is  no  law  there  is  no  transgression;  for  sin  is 
the  transgression  of  the  law."  And  without  such  a  decree,  neither 
could  man  ever  have  proved  his  obedience  nor  have  been  ever  con- 
firmed in  happiness,  for  he  would  have  remained  untried.  And  so  ne- 
cessary is  trial  in  the  servants  of  God,  that  he  would  not  finally  crown 
hisTOwn  Son,  or  place  him  as  the  foundation  on  which  to  build  his 
Church,  until  he  was  perfectly  tried  even  to  death  ^  tried  stone,  and 
was  made  perfect  through  sufferings.  Neither  V.  ill  any  of  his  saints 
ever  be  finally  crowned  with  the  crown  of  righteousness  and  eternal 
life,  until  they  pass  through  the  perfect  fiery  trial,  and  experience 
that  trial  of  their  faith  which  is  more  precious  and  more  refining  than 
that  of  gold,  and  learn  by  the  things  which  they  suffer — until  they 
know  how  to  keep  themselves  in  the  loVe  of  God.  It  was,  therefore, 
as  correct  and  necessary  that  the  first  Adam  and  his  posterity  ehould 
be  tempted  and  tried  as  that  the  second  and  his  seed  should. 

From  what  is  here  said,  it  will  naturally  be  understood,  that  God 
did  not  decree  in  that  order  of  decrees  which  was  first  described, 
that  man  should  not  sin  or  fall,  that  is,  he  did  not  decree  absolutely 
that  he  should  not  sin,  nolens  volens,  or  that  he  would  interpose  an 
arbitrary  or  forbidding  power  to  prevent  him  in  the  face  of  motive 
and  man's  free  agency.  Such  a  decree  or  preventing  act  would  have 
annulled  all  accountableness  in  man  and  made  his  withstanding  of  the 
temptation  a  necessary  act,  destitute  of  either  praise  or  blame,  justi- 
fication or  condemnation.  So  that  there  existed  no  possible  way  for 
man  to  arrive  at  the  perfection  of  his  order,  or  that  summit  of  bless- 
edness of  which  he  was  capable  by  creation,  and  which  was  his  ulti- 
mate destination  in  the  spirit,  the  glory  of  God  and  the  enjoyment  of 


36  MAN,  god's  representative. 

him,  only  to  let  him  be  tried  by  temptation,  and  the  result  be  attended 
to  as  occasion  required. 

God  did  decree,  absolutely  and  without  reserve,  to  provide  a  reme- 
dy for  man,  to  recover  him  from  the  fall  and  its  consequences.  Not 
indeed  to  restore  Adam  and  his  posterity  into  his  first  order  in  the 
flesh,  or  mend  up  that  order,  but  to  reinstate  them  into  the  favour  of 
God,  and  in  the  line  of  their  duty  and  happiness,  in  Christ  the  second 
Adam,  so  much  farther  on  their  way — as  many  as  will  yield  obedience 
to  that  plan.  This  decree  is  executed  in  Christ,  in  his  first  and  second 
appearing,  after  it  had  been  set  forth  by  many  shadows  and  various 
forms  in  the  law  of  Moses.  And  as  we  desire  to  make  as  short  work 
on  this  subject  as  will  consist  with  duty  and  perspicuity,  we  are  now 
ready  to  enter  on  the  ground  where  the  things  immediately  relating 
to  salvation  concentrate,  and  where  we  may  inquire  with  freedom  into 
^the  decrees  of  God  as  they  respect  men  in  their  present  standing. 

But  as  God  is  a  free,  moral  agent,  who  worketh  all  things  according  to 
the  counsel  of  his  own  will,  or  in  other  words,  who  doeth  all  things  as 
he  seeth  and  judgeth  it  best  to  do  them,  all  things  considered ;  as 
the  representative  of  God,  therefore,  man  is  also  a  free,  moral  agent, 
influenced  in  his  actions  by  his  own  mind  and  judgment. 

But  as  we  have  now  to  treat  of  man  in  his  fallen,  corrupt  state,  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  inquire,  whether  by  the  fall  his  moral  agency 
was  destroyed,  or  is  become  at  all  different  from  what  it  was.  To 
this  proposition  the  reply  is  negative.  It  is  not  destroyed  ;  it  is  not 
different  from  what  it  was  in  the  creation  ;  for  let  that  be  taken  away 
•  and  a  man  is  no  more  amenable  for  his  conduct.  This  will  become 
evident  by  inquiring  wherein  moral  agency  consists,  or  on  what  it  de- 
pends. Whether  on  a  man's  holiness  and  the  rectitude  of  his  ac- 
tions, or  on  the  physical  powers  of  the  mind.  And  it  is  evident  it 
cannot  depend  on  the  first ;  because  in  that  case,  having  once  become 
corrupt  or  unholy,  he  could  no  more  be  a  moral  agent,  consequ^tly 
no  longer  responsible  ;  but  it  is  granted  that  man  has  not  lost  his  re- 
sponsibility to  Godandto  his  fellow-creatures.  Besides  ;  in  that  case 
he  could  no  more  be  infliienced  by  reason,  or  by  motives  presented 
to  the  intellect.  But  man  is  still  influenced  by  motive,  and  gained  by 
reason ;  and  God  always  addresses  himself  to  man  according  to  these 
principles.  "  Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together,  saiththe  Lord." 
Moral  agency,  therefore,  depends  on  the  other  source,  the  physical 
powers  of  the  mind — those  powers  without  which  man  would  not  be 
man,  or  the  representative  of  God  in  his  own  image.  Now  these 
powers  were  not  taken  away  by  the  fall,  for  the  change  produced  by 
sin  was  not  physical  but  moral.  It  left  the  man  physically  what  he 
was,  constituted  of  body  and  mind,  or  rational  spirit,  with  the  animal 
life.  The  result  then  of  this  inquiry  is,  that  man  is  found  to  be  a 
moral  agent,  that  his  actions  have  respect  to  good  and  evil,  sin,  duty, 
obedience  and  disobedience,  since  the  fall  as  really  as  before  ;  and 
that  his  moral  agency  depends  on  the  physical  powers  or  faculties  of 
the  mind,  or  rational  spirit. 

I  have  not  continued  to  use  the  double  epithet,  free,  moral  agent, 
from  the  consideration  that  the  single  phrase  is  sufficient,  as  I  know 
no  difference  between  a  moral  agent,  and  a  free,  moral  agent ;  for  the 


MAN,  god's  eepresentattve.  37 

action  wHcli  is  not  free,  or  the  effect  of  choice,  is  not  a  moral  action, 
and  neither  praise  nor  blame,  justification  nor  condemnation,  can  at- 
tach to  an  action  of  that  kind.  Moral  actions  are  those  only  which 
come  within  the  limits  of  volition  or  choice  ;  and  all  such  actions  are 
criminal  or  justifiable,  in  proportion  to  the  agent's  acquaintance  with 
the  nature  of  the  case  ;  except  where  they  are  of  so  little  weight  as 
to  be  indifferent.  An  involuntary  or  unavoidable  action,  if  such  may 
be  called  agency  at  all,  cannot  be  criminal ;  neither  are  such  counted 
criminal  by  the  laws  of  God  or  men  :  the  knowledge  and  intention  of 
actions,  or  the  motives  leading  to  them,  constitute  their  criminality  or 
righteoiisness.  Should  a  man,  in  an  unexpected  hour,  be  taken  up 
into  the  air  by  a  whirlwind  or  hurricane,  and  thrown  on  another  man 
with  such  violence  as  to  kill  him,  and  the  first  escape  with  his  life, 
would  either  God  or  man  account  him  guilty  ?  I  judge  not.  But, 
should  he  stand  on  an  eminence  where  there  would  be  no  necessity 
of  falling,  and  designedly  throw  himself  on  the  other  and  kill  him,  he 
would  be  guilty. 

It  may  be  objected,  that  the  being  irresistibly  taken  up  and  thrown 
down  again  would  be  no  agency  at  all,  but  a  being  acted  upon  ;  but 
to  act  knowingly  and  unwillingly,  (as  some  say  they  sin,  but  not  will- 
ingly,) while  moved  onward  by  the  unavoidable  influence  of  a  neces- 
sarily governing  principle  or  the  secret  ordination  of  Heaven,  is  quite 
another  matter.  But  it  is  easy,  as  well  as  just,  to  reply,  that  the  ne- 
cessary and  unavoidable  influence  of  an  irresistible,  governing  prin- 
ciple, is  as  compulsory  as  irresistible  impulse  on  the  body.  Who  can 
withstand  that  which  is  necessary  and  irresistible  ?  Or  who  can  be 
blamed  for  doing  that  which  he  is  invincibly  necessitated  to  do  .''  or 
for  not  doing  that  which  he  is  invincibly  and  necessarily  unable  to  do  .'' 
Not  one.  And  let  men  talk  as  they  may  about  sinning  reluctantly, 
and  against  their  will,  it  is  all  a  hypocritical,  deceptions  affair,  for 
self-justification  ;  for  when  the  matter  comes  into  the  light,  it  is  found 
that  no  necessarily  governing  principle  or  power,  known  or  unknown, 
leads  or  prompts  any  man  to  sin,  without  his  own  choice  or  consent. 
And  this  makes  him  criminal,  according  to  the  knowledge  which  he 
has  of  what  is  sin,  or  what  is  duty  ;  for  it  is  not  the  man's  choice  to 
sin  for  the  sake  of  sinning  in  the  abstract,  but  to  do  certain  actions  to 
which  sin  is  attached,  either  necessarily  or  by  consequence  of  their 
relation  to  other  matters.  I  will  not  deny,  that  they  who  are  igno- 
rant of  the  Gospel,  which  is  the  only  mean  of  obtaining  power  over  sin, 
are  under  the  government  of  a  principle  which  is  invincible  by  them 
in  their  present  situation,  by  which  they  are  led  into  sin  and  cannot 
avoid  it ;  but  this  principle,  invincible  in  that  situation,  is  their  own 
nature,  or  their  own  inclination  and  choice  to  do  those  things  which 
are  iniquitous ;  and  their  criminality  is  only  in  proportion  to  their 
light  and  power,  and  the  opposition  to  these  which  they  practise  in 
their  actions  :  but  they  have  not  salvation. 

But  it  is  argued  that  as  every  man  acts  by  the  influence  of  motive, 
in  all  his  moral  actions,  and  there  are  opposite  and  contradictory  mo- 
tives, some  to  do  good  and  some  to  do  evil,  every  motive  must  influ- 
ence according  to  its  present  weight  on  the  mind,  or  its  real  estima- 
tion, consequently  the  man  must  be  influenced  and  governed  by  the 


38  MAN,    GOD  S    REPRESENTATIVE. 

superior  motive,  or  that  wMcli  is  of  the  first  importance.  The  ques- 
tion then  is,  can  a  man  commit  sin,  or  can  he  not,  his  actions  being 
unavoidable,  the  necessary  product  of  irresistibly  superior  motive  ? 

In  the  process  of  this  discussion,  it  may  be  necessary  for  the  satis- 
faction of  some  to  premise  a  few  things  respecting  the  faculties  of  the 
mind  or  rational  spirit,  and  their  order.  The  common  enumeration 
and  arrangement  have  been.  The  judgment^  ivill  and  affections^  or  ac- 
cording to  others,  the  judgment^  the  affections  and  the  will.  The 
enumeration  of  the  faculties  has  also  been  carried  to  a  much  greater 
extent,  and  the  arrangement  made  very  different  from  either  of  the 
foregoing ;  and  this  may  be  done  with  propriety,  because  it  is  beyond 
a  doubt  that  the  spirit  in  man  is  capable  of  operations,  of  various 
classes,  which  are  not  definitively  expressed  in  any  of  these.  It  is 
not  my  intention  to  be  minute,  or  extensively  particular  in  this  place  ; 
but  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  free  use  of  the  terms  as  they  may  be 
needed  in  the  following  pages,  I  will  make  a  general  enumeration. 

The  first  operation  of  the  mind  is  the  reception  of  ideas,  or  the 
impressions  of  certain  objects  presented  to  it.  That  power  or  faculty 
of  the  mind  by  which  this  operation  is  performed  may  be  called  the 
RECEPTACLE  of  those  ideas  or  impressions.  The  intellect  may  be 
noticed  next,  that  faculty  by  which  the  rational  spirit  understands 
those  ideas.  Comparison,  or  the  comparing  of  ideas  together,  by 
which  the  mind  observes  the  likeness  and  unlikeness  of  things  pre- 
sented to  it.  The  JUDGMENT,  or  the  power  of  deciding  on  the  pro- 
priety and  impropriety,  superiority  and  inferiority,  goodness  and  evil 
of  actions  or  things  according  to  evidence.  Conscience,  or  the  mo- 
ral FACULTY,  by  which  the  mind  determines  in  favour  of  the  good  and 
against  the  evil  according  to  evidence  ;  and  accuses  and  condemns  if 
disobeyed,  but  approves  and  justifies  the  obedient.  Determinator, 
or  that  power  of  the  mind  by  which  it  determines  which  of  two  differ- 
ent or  contrary  objects  to  prefer.  The  choice,  or  power  of  choosing 
after  the  determination  is  closed.  The  memory,  which  is  simply  the 
power  of  retaining  and  reflecting  upon  ideas  or  impressions  received 
before.  The  imagination,  or  the  power  of  forming  the  imagery  of 
things  in  the  mind,  the  ideas  or  impressions  of  which  have  been  re- 
ceived before.  The  affections,  which  environ  and  embrace  the 
object  of  the  choice,  or  that  which  obtains  the  ascendency  in  the  mind ; 
as  love,  approbation,  complacency.  The  passions,  as  in  the  first  place, 
those  by  which  an  object  is  repelled,  or  rejected  from  the  mind  ;  as 
hatred,  reprobation,  aversion,  abhorrence.  But  these  are  more  pro- 
perly the  counterpart  of  the  affections  ;  for  if  we  love  one  object,  we 
necessarily  hate  the  contrary ;  if  we  approbate  one,  we  necessarily 
reprobate  the  contrary.  On  this  principle  it  is  stated  in  the  holy 
vScriptures,  that  "  no  man  can  serve  two  masters  ;  for  he  will  hate  the 
-one  and  love  the  other  ;  or  else  he  will  hold  to  the  one  and  despise 
the  other."  (Matt.  vi.  24.)  These  are  prone  to  move  with  violence  and 
impetuosity,  and  need  to  be  regulated  and  governed  by  the  judgment 
and  consideration.  But  the  passions  most  prominent  in  the  hiiman 
life,  are  those  animal  sensations,  or  fleshly  appetites  and  propensities, 
arising  from  the  connection  of  the  spirit  of  man  with  the  material 
body,  in  the  constitution  of  animal  life.  These  move  inconsiderately 
and  impetuously,  and  seize  with  avidity  the  coveted  object.     By  these 


MAN,  god's  representative.  39 

mankind  are  precipitately  hurried,  often  into  extravagant  evils,  and 
the  whole  spirit  or  mind,  as  it  were,  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of  ani- 
mal and  fleshly  pleasures  and  indulgences.  By  these  mankind  are 
governed  in  all  their  pursuits,  until  they  are  arrested  by  something 
of  greater  importance  presented  to  the  intellect  and  apprehended  by 
it.  All  these  may,  in  common  language,  be  comprehended  in  the 
general  term,  affections;  but  the  above  distinctions  are  not  without 
their  use.  And  to  the  last  class  pertain  the  affections  and  lusts  of 
the  flesh  which  all  Christians  crucify.  And  the  Gospel  alone,  when 
received  and  obeyed,  is  calculated  to  furnish  any  of  the  humap  family 
with  power  to  regulate  the  affections,  subdue  the  passions  and  crucify 
the  lusts.  To  these  might  be  added  the  ivilt^  by  which  the  inclination 
and  determination  are  conclusively  fixed  ;  also  reason^  consideration 
and  the  like,  but  being  comprehended  in  the  foregoing,  and  so  com- 
monly understood,  I  shall  at  present  leave  any  farther  distinctions  to 
those  whose  province  it  more  immediately  is  to  make  them. 

It  may,  however,  be  proper  here  to  add,  that  when  we  speak  of  the 
different  faculties  of  the  mind  or  spirit,  we  do  not  intend  that  these 
are  really  different  powers  or  parts  distinct  from  each  other,  of  which 
the  spirit  is  composed,  like  the  body  of  its  different  members  ;  but  as 
the  rational  spirit  in  man  is,  in  its  order,  the  representative  of  God,  it 
is  one,  and  these  different  faculties  are  the  different  modes,  capacities 
or  lines  of  operation  in  the  same  spirit.  Thus  when  we  speak  of  the 
intellect,  we  mean  the  spirit  capable  of  understanding ;  when  of  the 
judgment,  we  mean  the  spirit  capable  of  giving  judgment;  and  when 
of  the  conscience,  we  mean  the  same  spirit  approving  the  good  and 
condemning  the  evil.  Thus  also  we  say,  the  spirit,  and  sometimes 
the  soul,  the  mind,  the  rational  spirit,  and  the  like,  to  denote  one  and 
the  same  thing.  Now  to  return  to  the  subject  in  hand.  It  is  con- 
tended that  every  man  follows  that  motive  which  bears  with  the 
greatest  weight  on  his  mind,  at  the  instant  when  he  acts  or  when  he 
concludes  which  of  two  different  actions  to  do,  because  to  choose  that 
action,  or  that  course  of  actions,  or  manners,  which  bears  with  the 
least  weight,  and  consequently  hath  the  least  influence,  would  be  ir- 
rational, and  contrary  to  being  influenced  by  motive,  and  make  void  the 
use  of  argument,  by  proposing  reason  and  evidence  to  induce  to 
action  :  it  would  be  like  the  heaviest  weight  in  the  scale  being  ele- 
vated by  the  preponderance  of  the  lightest.  I  shall  not  contest  this 
reasoning  ;  I  see  no  method  to  overturn  it.  For  although  many  men 
do  many  things  which  they  would  much  rather  not  do,  they  make 
choice  of  these  rather  than  their  alternatives,  which  to  them  appear 
still  worse,  and  of  two  evils  they  choose  the  least ;  which  is  a  good 
rule,  as  it  relates  to  natural  things.  It  is  true  many  actions  of  men 
are  done  so  inadvertently  and  inconsiderately,  that  they  afford  no  op- 
portunity for  inquiring  into  the  spring  of  them,  and  many  so  trivial, 
that  they  are  not  worth  an  investigation ;  but  subjects  of  this  kind 
are  most  properly  elucidated  by  those  examples  which  are  evident 
and  capable  of  clear  investigation ;  and  by  these  it  is  easily  proved 
that  men  have  leading,  and  to  them  superior  motives,  which  they  fol- 
low in  all  their  actions. 

But  if  every  man  be  necessarily  led  by  the  first  or  superior  motive, 
how  can  any  man  be^uilty  of  sin,  or  in  any  sense  criminal,  being  ne- 


40  MAN,  god's  representative. 

cessarily  led  to  every  action  by  an  exterior  cause  ?  for  motive  is  not 
in  the  man  ;  in  him  is  only  the  receptacle  of  that  which  cometh  from 
without,  the  subject  on  which  the  motive  may  fasten  itself.  Men  are 
not  born  with  motives  in  them  ;  all  these  are  received  through  the 
medium  of  the  natural  senses,  as  hearing  and  seeing.  But  in  men  is 
found  a  spirit  or  mind  capable  of  receiving  the  impressions  of  all 
things  which  are  presented  to  it  through  their  senses,  and  of  survey- 
ing and  comprehending  them  as  far  as  they  are  represented  or  laid 
open,  and  all  real  facts  thus  opened  are  congenial  with  the  physical 
powers  of  the  mind.  Thus  a  man  hath  in  him  no  motive  to  worship 
God,  until  he  is  taught  that  God  IS,  whether  he  learn  God's  Being 
from  his  works,  or  by  revelation.  But  the  impression  of  the  being 
of  God  is  so  congenial  with  the  physical  make  or  constitution  of  the 
spirit  which  came  from  God,  his  proper  image,  that  it  can  never  be 
erased,  and  the  propriety  of  worshipping  him  is  quite  easy — a  rea- 
sonable duty.  "  I  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of 
God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  and  accepta- 
ble to  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service."  (Rom.  xii.  1.)  A 
man  hath  no  motive  to  repent  of  his  sins,  until  he  learns  that  he  is  a 
sinner,  and  something  of  the  nature  and  consequence  of  sin.  But 
when  these  things  are  known,  repentance  readily  appears  proper. 
And  no  man  hath  any  motive  to  obey  the  Gospel  until  he  is  taught 
something  of  the  necessity  and  benefit  of  it.  But  when  these  things 
are  known,  nothing  can  be  presented  with  motives  really  superior,  or 
equal. 

But  if  men  are  necessarily  influenced  to  follow  the  superior  mo- 
tives in  all  their  actions,  and  if  these  motives  are  not  innate  or  physi- 
cally in  men,  but  must  come  from  some  other  source,  the  question 
again  returns.  Can  any  man  commit  sin  or  be  at  all  criminal .''  Is  not 
every  man  completely  under  the  power  of  some  other  being,  or  source 
of  influence  either  good  or  bad,  so  that  if  his  actions  be  of  the  wicked 
class  they  are  not  criminal  in  him,  for  how  can  he  help  them  ;  the 
first  motives  irresistibly  prevail,  and  if  they  be  of  the  good  class  in 
the  matter  of  them,  what  recommendation  are  they  to  him  ?  Or 
what  do  they  make  in  his  favour  ?  They  may  indeed  be  negatively 
innocent  as  having  in  them  neither  good  nor  evil  to  him  ;  for  how  can 
he  avoid  them  ?  and  who  thanks  him  for  his  good  deeds  ? 

But  it  being  granted  that  men  follow  the  first  motives  to  them,  or 
those  which  feel  most  engaging  for  the  time  present,  will  not  prove 
that  they  always  follow  and  obey  the  really  and  intrinsically  superior 
motives.  For  men  do  not  always  acknowledge  the  full  weight  of  such 
motives,  or  they  do  not  admit  the  most  worthy  motives  into  the  ac- 
count. But  for  this  also  they  must  have  a  motive,  which  is  to  escape 
the  influence  of  the  siiperior  motive  which  would  influence  them  con- 
trary to  the  pursuit  of  some  inferior  object  which  they  have  in  view : 
herein  is  dishonesty.  But  it  will  be  said  that  this  inferior  object  is 
the  superior  motive  with  them  at  that  time,  else  they  would  not  follow 
it.  Granted  :  but  how  comes  it  to  be  superior  to  them  ?  Because 
it  is  so  in  itself  }  Not  so  ;  for  that  is  contrary  to  our  proposition  and 
to  matter  of  fact.  Is  it  superior  because  they  who  follow  it  believe 
it  to  be  superior  .?  Not  so  ;  for  they  believe  the  contrary,  else  they 
"would  not  be  afraid  or  unwilling  to  admit  that  which  is  really  supe- 


MAN,  god's  representative.  41 

rior  to  its  full  estimation.  For  example  ;  the  drunkard  believes  that 
sobriety  is  better  than  drunkenness  in  every  respect ;  for  bis  own 
health,  for  the  wealth  of  him  and  his  family,  and  for  the  comfort, 
peace,  and  good  morals  of  them  all ;  and  often  looks  at  it,  and  considers 
how  much  better  it  would  be  to  be  sober  and  temperate  ;  but  the  gra- 
tification of  a  carnal  thirst  for  spirituous  liquors,  the  love  of  such  com- 
pany as  suits  his  disposition,  the  desire  to  drown  perplexing  thoughts, 
and  often  those  very  thoughts  and  convictions  which  relate  to  supe- 
rior objects  and  motives,  some  or  all  of  these  inferior  motives  prevail ; 
he  chooses  and  practises  on  the  inferior,  making  them  the  superior  to 
him  by  his  own  act ;  I  say,  making  them  the  superior  to  him  by  giving 
them  the  first  place. 

The  question  now  is,  are  these  motives  irresistible.?  If  so,  the 
drunkard  is  as  innocent  and  as  respectable  as  the  sober  and  temperate 
man.  Or  when  a  man  is  tempted  to  defile  his  neighbour's  wife,  and 
he  commits  the  atrocious  deed,  if  the  temptations  are  irresistible  he 
is  just  as  innocent  as  he  who  respects  lawful  wedlock,  or  becomes  a 
eunuch  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake.  And  the  man  who  is  offend- 
ed by  his  neighbour,  and  avenges  himself  by  taking  his  neighbour's 
life,  is  just  as  innocent  as  he  who  was  taken  up  in  a  hurricane  and 
irresistibly  and  without  intention  or  design  thrown  on  the  other  so  as 
to  kill  him.  It  will  be  said  in  this  last  case,  the  force  was  mechanical 
and  therefore  not  a  proper  similitude  of  the  influence  of  moral  motive, 
which  is  only  mental  and  therefore  not  irresistible  in  the  same  manner. 
But  an  irresistible  is  irresistible,  and  can  any  man  show  or  discover 
the  difference  in  the  effects  of  irresistibles .''  Every  man  unfailingly 
follows  the  intrinsically  superior  motive  known  to  him  according  to 
his  best  judgment,  or  he  does  not :  if  he  does  not,  which  both  fact 
and  acknowledgment  prove  to  be  the  case,  then  moral  motive  is  not 
irresistible  ;  because  were  it  irresistible,  the  superior  motive  known 
must  always  have  the  irresistibility,  as  certainly  as  the  heaviest  piece 
of  metal  will  have  the  preponderancy  in  an  equal  scale,  and  every 
man  would  necessarily  follow  it.  Thus  it  is  evident  by  the  Scriptures 
that  moral  motive  is  not  irresistible  ;  Ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Now  no  motives  could  be  named  of  more  intrinsical  estima- 
tion than  those  proffered  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  yet  they  resisted  them 
with  success ;  and  they  could  not  resist  those  motives  which  were 
not  within  their  reach. 

Biit  moral  motives  not  being  irresistible,  they  will  not  prove  that  men 
do  not  follow  those  motives  which  they  esteem  the  greatest ;  and  that 
motive  which  is  esteemed  the  greatest,  is  the  greatest  at  the  time,  for 
motives  are  superior  or  inferior  according  to  their  estimation  ;  for 
whatever  inclines  or  finally  induces  the  mind  to  certain  actions  in 
preference  to  others,  is  the  pre-eminent  motive  in  that  mind.  But 
moral  motives  not  being  necessarily  irresistible,  leaves  room  for  man's 
accountableness,  because  he  is  on  that  principle  at  liberty  to  choose 
or  refuse  ;  whereas  to  be  carried  irresistibly  by  any  power,  mechani- 
cal or  mental,  excludes  all  choice,  and  without  choice  no  man  can  be 
commended  or  blamed,  he  is  in  nothing  superior  to  a  machine. 

But  the  question  remains :  How  are  these  things  reconcilable  ? 
Men  are  invariably  governed  by  that  motive  which  is,  to  them,  the 
superior  one  ;  yet  have  the  power  of  choosing  their  ways,  when  differ- 


"-, 


42  MAN,  god's  representative. 

ent  ways  are  presented  with  their  attending  motives.  Just  on  this 
principle  the  matter  is  all  plain,  that  motives  are  none  of  them  irre- 
sistible ;  and  that  men  have  in  themselves  that  faculty  or  power  by 
which  they  are  able,  most  deliberately  and  freely,  to  choose  the  way 
to  go  and  the  actions  to  do,  according  to  the  best  of  their  judgment, 
and  according  to  evidence  received,  which  power  I  have  denominated 
the  DETERMiNATOR.  Without  this  there  could  be  no  free  agency. 
By  this  power,  it  is  the  province  and  privilege  of  every  man  to  deter- 
mine what  motives  to  set  in  the  highest  place,  the  really  inferior  which 
are  most  agreeable  to  his  corrupt  inclinations,  or  those  which  are  su- 
perior by  intrinsic  worth. 

By  this  I  do  not  mean  that  every  man,  or  any  one,  can  give  him- 
self information,  without  the  aid  of  some  other  means,  what  is  the  supe- 
rior motive.  But  when  different  objects  are  presented  to  the  mind 
to  invite  the  man  to  this  or  that,  and  the  reasons  and  evidences  are 
also  brought  into  view,  why  this  or  that  is  superior  and  the  other 
inferior,  it  is  the  prerogative  and  province  of  every  man  to  be  as 
free  as  God  in  determining,  according  to  his  best  judgment,  which  to 
choose — which  motive  to  set  on  the  throne,  giving  it  the  first  place 
in  his  mind,  choice  and  affections,  whether  that  which  is  intrinsically 
inferior  but  most  agreeable  to  the  man's  inclinations  and  passions,  or 
that  which  is  intrinsically  superior,  in  real  worth,  and  therefore  justly 
claims  the  pre-eminence  in  the  judgment.  For  when  the  whole  mat- 
ter is  developed,  this  is  the  point  where  all  the  real  contrast  between 
motives  centres.  Because  when  men  come  to  be  governed  by  their 
judgment,  their  whole  care  and  labour  is  to  have  the  judgment  pro- 
perly informed  of  different  matters,  which  are  the  best,  and  if  both 
cannot  be  obtained  or  pursued,  the  most  valuable  is  chosen  as  soon  as 
the  judgment  decides  which  that  is.  In  case,  therefore,  of  necessary 
errors  of  judgment  for  the  want  of  light,  or  information,  there  is  no 
criminality :  the  man  has  done  the  best  he  knew.  But  when  the 
judgment  is  informed  and  the  man  doth  not  live  up  to  its  instruc- 
tions, it  is  a  self-evident  principle,  as  well  as  scriptural,  that  he  is 
guilty.  It  has  been  already  proved  that  he  can  be  under  no  necessary 
or  irresistible  influence  to  do  what  he  knows  is  wrong.  But  when  a 
man  is  governed  by  the  passions,  motives  may  be  presented  to  the 
choice  through  the  intellect  and  judgment,  of  cpite  superior  quality 
to  those  which  the  passions  present,  and  the  superior  be  rejected  and 
the  inferior  preferred,  in  the  face  of  judgment  and  conscience,  by  the 
choice  being  determined  in  favour  of  the  passions.  And  on  this  pivot 
turns  man's  accountableness  ;  he  is  here  called  upon  to  exercise  his 
prerogative  and  determine  the  choice  in  favour  of  the  superior 
motive,  or  his  best  judgment,  and  to  put  that  choice  into  practice,  or 
if  he  neglect,  to  do  it  at  the  expense  of  his  justification. 

This  is  the  unhappy  condition  of  the  whole  human  race,  to  be  gov- 
erned by  the  passions,  and  ever  will  until  the  passions  are  taken  cap- 
tive and  put  under  arrest,  at  least  so  far  as  to  give  every  man  a  fair 
trial  whether  he  will  determine  his  choice  in  favour  of  the  passions  or 
the  judgment.  When  man  fell  from  God  he  fell  from  the  govern- 
ment of  the  spirit  to  that  of  the  flesh,  from  the  government  of  the 
judgment  to  that  of  the  passions,  and  there  he  remains  until  arrested 
by  the  Gospel.     But  in  that  situation  he  calls  in  the  aid  of  the  judg- 


OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  43 

ment  and  other  faculties,  to  subserve  the  work  of  the  passions  :  and 
by  the  passions  and  affections,  is  the  way  to  arrest  man's  attention 
and  gain  him  to  give  the  judgment  the  lead ;  when  this  is  done  mat- 
ters are  on  a  fair  train  to  be  all  put  right.  I  have  spoken  of  the 
province  and  the  prerogative  of  every  man  to  determine  the  choice  in 
favour  of  the  superior  motive  according  to  his  best  judgment.  This 
implies  that  there  must  be  light  in  the  understanding,  and  the  judg- 
ment be  formed  before  anything  decisive  can  be  done.  It  also  agrees 
with  the  doctrine  of  all  motive  being  exterior,  or  out  of  the  man. 
And  every  true  motive  to  good  deeds  is  from  God,  the  Father  of 
lights,  from  whom  cometh  every  good  and  perfect  gift.  But  where 
the  light  and  information  are  but  partial  the  decision  of  the  judgment 
will  be  weak ;  yet  when  men  follow  their  best  judgment,  and  yield 
to  the  best  light  and  information  in  their  reach,  unbiassed  by  selfish 
and  inferior  motives,  they  are  released  from  condemnation  and  in  the 
fair  way  to  become  perfectly  right.  And  this  is  free  agency,  unham- 
pered and  without  a  blemish,  for  a  man  to  determine  his  choice  ac- 
cording to  the  best  of  his  judgment,  and  not  to  be  necessarily  car- 
ried by  inferior  motives  which  are  congenial  to  his  inclinations  and 
passions,  in  violation  of  his  better  judgment.  And  this  is  man's  pro- 
vince, Lord  of  his  proper  sphere,  of  which  none  can  spoil  him — this 
is  his  prerogative,  of  which  none  can  rob  him :  and  no  man  or  God  can 
do  his  duty  for  him.  Without  this  province  and  this  prerogative, 
man  could  not  be  man,  he  could  not  be  the  real  representative  of 
God  ;  nor  could  he  ever  become  his  true  offspring,  his  image  and 
glory  in  a  spiritual  state. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

OP  THE  GOSPEL  OFFERS,  AND  MAn's  CAPABILITY  OP  COMPLYING  ; 
AND  WHETHER  GOd's  DECREES  AT  ALL  INTERCEPT  ITS  FREE 
OPERATION. 

Notwithstanding  that  man  continues  to  be  man,  through  the  fall 
and  all  its  consequences,  he  is  a  lost  creature,  ruined  by  sin,  sunk  into 
darkness  and  death  ;  the  powers  of  his  mind  are  set  on  wrong  objects 
and  their  true  order  subverted,  so  that  the  passions  rule,  and  the  in- 
tellectual powers,  which  according  to  their  true  order  ought  to  rule 
and  be  primarily  subservient  to  God  alone,  are  become  subservient  to 
the  passions  and  the  flesh;  until  those  noble  powers,  in  the  possession 
of  which  man  continues  to  be  physically  the  image  and  moral  off- 
spring c^  God,  are  degraded  to  the  inferior  purposes  of  corruption 
and  misery,  and  although  the  mind  and  conscience  remain,  both  the 
mind  and  conscience  are  defiled.  (Tit.  i.  15.)  The  Gospel  is  the 
only  mean  of  recovery  from  all  this  ruin  ;  and  it  is  sent  to  the  human 
race  on  the  most  liberal  terms,  excluding  none  who  are  willing,  or 


44  OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

who  will  be  prevailed  upon  to  receive  salvation  on  God's  terms.  We 
are  now  to  inquire  what  are  these  terms ;  and  whether  they  are 
adapted  to  man's  condition,  or  whether  it  is  in  the  power  of  man  to 
comply  with  the  proposals  made  to  him  in  the  Gospel.  The  Gospel 
is  commonly  called  the  ordinary,  not  to  say,  as  it  really  is,  the  only, 
mean  of  salvation.  But  if  the  proposals,  or  provision  in  the  Gospel, 
be  out  of  man's  reach,  in  his  present  fallen  state,  it  is  no  mean  of 
salvation  to  him  ;  for  that  which  is  not  adequate  to  the  effect,  is  no 
mean  of  any  matter  whatever  ;  and  if  man  hath  not  power  to  comply 
with  the  proposals  of  the  Gospel,  there  must  be  some  other  mean  of 
salvation  for  him,  or  he  must  go  without. 

But  as  we  are  treating  of  the  decrees  of  God  and  the  things  relating 
thereto,  and  have  just  been  treating  of  man's  free  agency,  we  shall 
make  sorae  examination,  whether  there  be  any  contrast  between  the 
decrees  of  God  and  man's  free  agency,  or  whether  those  do  in  any 
respect  infringe  on  this,  so  as  to  prevent  its  unrestrained  operation. 
And  here  let  it  be  considered,  that  if  any  irresistible  decree  or  decrees 
of  God,  that  certain  things  shall  unfailingly  come  to  pass,  should  coun- 
teract the  free  agency  of  man,  or  prevent  him  from  choosing  accord- 
ing to  his  best  judgment,  such  a  decree  would  carry  him  irresistibly 
and  take  away  his  accountableness,  for  the  same  reason  as  irresistible 
motive  or  mechanical  force  :  and  that  would  be  contrary  to  the  call 
and  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  which  are  most  liberal  and  unreserved. 
"  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour,  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest."  "  Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 
And  again  ;  "  He  that  believeth  on  him  is  not  condemned ;  but  he  that 
believeth  not  is  condemned  already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  on 
the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God :"  not  because  any  decree 
of  God  stood  in  the  way  to  prevent  him.  (Mat.  xi.  28,  Rev.  xxii. 
17,  Jno.  iii.  18.)  Now  to  suppose  any  decree  of  God,  absolute  or 
permissive,  to  interpose,  or  at  all  to  be  the  most  remote  acting  cause, 
why  any  man  doth  not  believe — that  decree  preventing  him,  or  ren- 
dering the  Gospel  invitations  abortive — would  be  to  charge  God  with 
duplicity  in  the  Gospel  offer,  and  tarnish  the  immaculate  glory  of  his 
character.  And  those  decrees  of  God,  which  propose  to  men  their 
duty  and  require  obedience,  are  the  ground-work,  with  the  necessary 
attending  motives,  to  induce  men  to  use  their  free  agency  and  make  a 
wise  choice.  There  is,  therefore,  no  contrast  between  the  decrees  of 
God  and  man's  free  agency. 

The  Gospel  of  Christ  is  the  mean  appointed  of  God  for  man's  re- 
covery and  final  redemption.  It  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation,  to 
every  one  that  believeth,  and  by  it  life  and  immortality  are  brought  to 
light.  By  the  Gospel  is  made  known,  who  is  the  salvation  of  God  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  "  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other  :  for 
there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved,"  except  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  "  For  I  deter- 
mined," saith  the  Apostle,  "  not  to  know  any  thing  among  you,  save 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified."  (Acts  iv.  12,  1  Cor.  ii.  2.)  The 
Spirit  of  God  also,  (that  is  Christ,  for  the  Lord  is  that  Spirit,  2  Cor. 
iii.  17.)  is  made  known  by  the  Gospel ;  and  the  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel are  the  ministers  of  Christ,  to  preach  Christ  to  the  people,  to 
minister  Christ,  and  to  minister  the  Spirit  to  the  people  ;  "  For  we 


OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  45 

preacli  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord  ;  and  ourselves  your 
servants  for  Jesus'  sake.  But  we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  ves- 
sels, that  the  excellency  of  the  power  may  be  of  God  and  not  of  us." 
And  again ;  "  Not  that  we  are  sufficient  of  ourselves  to  think  any  thing 
as  of  ourselves ;  but  our  sufficiency  is  of  God ;  who  also  hath  made 
us  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament ;  not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the 
Spirit."  And  again;  "He  therefore,  that  ministereth  to  you  the 
Spirit,  and  worketh  miracles  among  you,  (doeth  he  these  things)  by 
the  works  of  the  law,  or  by  the  hearing  of  faith.  (2  Cor.  iv.  5,  7,  and 
iii.  5,  6,  Gal.  iii.  5.)  Thus  it  appears,  by  these  and  a  multitude  of 
other  Scriptures,  that  in  the  Gospel  is  all  necessary  provision  for  man's 
salvation,  being  indeed  the  power  of  God  to  salvation,  because  Christ 
the  power  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  God  is  therein  ministered  to 
men. 

Now  the  question  is  to  be  discussed ;  is  this  Gospel  of  God  suffi- 
ciently adapted  to  the  recovery  of  men  from  their  present  fallen  con- 
dition, or  is  some  additional  mean  or  help  requisite  to  their  recovery 
and  final  salvation.''  If  the  Gospel  is  sufficiently  adapted  to  their  re- 
covery, it  is  so  completely  accommodated  to  their  present  circum- 
stances that  they  are  able,  without  additional  aid,  to  receive  it  and  to 
comply  with  its  terms.  And  on  that  principle  they  can  be  charge- 
able with  their  own  ruin  who  perish  under  the  Gospel  sound  and  on 
no  other ;  this  being  the  only  way  of  salvation  or  hope.  Or  it 
amounts  to  the  same  to  say,  if  Christ  is  a  Saviour,  sufficiently  adapted 
to  the  salvation  of  men,  his  terms  and  proposals  must  be  and  are  so 
exquisitely  accommodated  to  their  present  circumstances,  sin,  guilt, 
death  and  all  other  things  considered,  that  they  are  able  to  comply 
wiih  all  that  which  he  proposes,  and  to  do  what  he  requires,  without 
farther  aid  than  his  offers  include.  For  no  man  can  be  criminal  in  not 
doing  what  he  is  required,  unless  the  requirements  be  fair  and  equal; 
and  no  requisition  can  be  fair  and  equal  which  requires  more  duty  or 
obedience  than  the  man  is  able  to  yield,  unless  when  he  has  previ- 
ously and  willingly  spent  his  ability.  (Mark  this.)  Accordingly 
God  deals  with  man  on  reasonable  terms ;  "  Come  now,  let  us  reason 
together,  saith  the  Lord."  (Isa.  i.  19.)  And  all  the  proposals  of  the 
Gospel,  the  calls  and  invitations,  the  warnings  and  threatenings  are 
made  in  the  open  acknowledgment,  that  man  stands  on  equal  ground 
with  his  Maker  and  Redeemer,  nothing  being  required  by  God,  but 
what  is  in  the  reach  of  man  to  perform.  "  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye 
saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none 
else."  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,  and  he 
that  hath  no  money ;  come  ye,  buy  and  eat ;  yea,  come  ;  buy  wine 
and  milk,  without  money,  and  without  price."  "Jesus  stood  and 
cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink." 
"  And  he  said  unto  them.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth,  and  is  baptized  shall  be 
saved;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  "And  the 
Spirit  and  the  Bride  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  say, 
Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  (Isa.  xlv.  22,  and  Iv.  1,  Jno.  vii. 
37,  Mar.  xvi.  15  and  16,  Rev.  xxii.  17.)  Thus  fairly,  equitably  and 
unreservedly  are  the  proposals  of  the  Gospel  universally  made. 


46  OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

It  is  vain  to  plead,  that  all  these  proposals  are  insufficient,  without 
the  help  of  God,  to  enable  mankind  to  do  their  duty ;  for  if  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Gospel  are  not  equal  to  the  necessities  of  those  to  whom 
it  is  sent,  it  is  an  imperfect  thing,  a  mere  blank  and  a  reproach  to  its 
author.  For  to  propose  salvation  to  any  man  on  such  a  plan  as  is  not 
equal  to  its  accomplishment  without  additional  aid,  and  that  additional 
aid  cannot  be  had  unless  on  such  terms  as  the  man  is  not  able  to 
comply  with,  is  only  to  mock  the  man's  misery  and  cruelly  to  aggra- 
vate his  distress.  And  it  is  granted  on  all  hands,  that  he  who  rejects 
the  Gospel  is  the  most  miserable  of  all  beings,  unspeakably  more 
guilty  and  wretched  than  they  who  never  heard  it.  But  with  what 
propriety,  if  the  Gospel  conies  with  such  proposals  that  he  cannot 
comply  with  them  without  further  aid  and  that  aid  is  never  given  V 
"  This  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men 
loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil."  But 
whence  this  condemnation,  or  judgment,  if  they  were  not  capable  of 
coming  to  the  light  and  submitting  to  its  requisitions.  But  the  Gospel 
is  furnished  with  every  necessary  supply  ;  and  the  commission  of 
Christ  and  his  ministers  includes  every  supply  which  the  believing  and 
obedient  need.  "  He  that  believeth  is  not  condemned." — "  And  being 
made  perfect  (through  suffering)  he  became  the  author  of  eternal  sal- 
vation to  all  them  that  obey  him."  (Heb.  v.  b.)  "He  came  to  his 
own,  and  his  own  received  him  not.  But  to  as  many  as  received  him, 
to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  who 
believed  on  his  name.  And  of  his  fullness  have  all  we  received  and 
grace  for  grace  [or  according  to  grace]."  (Jno.  i.  11.  12.  16.)  "  The 
spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  the  poor  ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  the  recovering  of  sight  to  the 
blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable 
year  of  the  Lord."  (Luke  iv.  18.  19.)  But  it  is  unnecessary  to  multi- 
ply scriptures  on  this  point.  It  is  granted  that  the  Gospel  opens  a 
sufficient  door  and  treasure  of  salvation  to  those  who  receive  and  obey 
it;  or  in  other  words  who  believe,  which  always  implies  obedience, 
for  faith  without  works  is  dead,  being  alone.  It  is  also  granted  that  all 
may  receive  who  will ;  but  it  is  argued  that  none  are,  or  can  be  willing, 
until  their  will  is  renewed,  by  the  work  of  God's  Spirit,  in  some  opera- 
tion distinct  from  the  preaching  of  the  word,  or  beyond  it.  Thus  that 
Gospel  of  Christ,  which  is  the  only  mean  of  salvation  which  God  hath 
ever  made  known  to  men,  and  which  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation 
to  every  one  who  believeth,  is  set  aside  as  being  inefficacious  to  sal- 
vation until  men  are  first  saved,  or  regenerated,  by  a  necessarily  pre- 
vious work  of  God,  which  work  there  is  no  evidence,  way  or  method 
of  obtaining,  unless  God  see  fit  to  do  it,  acting  according  to  his  sove- 
reign appointment  or  decree,  according  to  some,  and  yet  the  man  must 
perish  for  not  receiving  and  obeying  Christ,  when  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  comply.  This  is  indeed  an  absurdity  and  a  wicked  accusation 
of  God,  and  such  it  will  appear  to  those  who  consider  what  has  been 
proved ;  that  it  is  every  n  an's  prerogative,  and  that  pivot  on  which  his 
fate  has  finally  to  turn,  to  determine  his  own  choice,  and  to  choose 
whom  he  will  obey,  and  that  in  this  light  God  always  treats  with 
men.     "  Choose  ye  whom  ye  will  serve." 


OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  47 

Besides ;  it  is  a  wild  notion  amongst  men,  that  to  will  the  thing 
which  is  good,  is  a  spiritual  act,  or  the  act  of  some  new  spiritual 
power,  whereas  the  will  is  entirely  a  ph3'sical  power,  among  the  rest 
of  those  which  belong  to  the  physical  man,  and  to  will  the  thing 
which  is  good  is  no  more  a  spiritual  act,  than  to  will  the  thing  which 
is  evil :  but  the  will  is  fixed  on  a  better  object.  But  the  act  is  as 
much  spiritual  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other,  each  being  the  act  of  the 
intellectual  and  rational  spirit.  Man  is  constitutionally  as  spiritual  in 
his  powers  of  mind  before  he  believes  and  obeys  Christ  as  after  ;  as 
much  so  as  he  has  any  occasion  to  be  ;  being  possessed  of  that  ra- 
tional spirit  with  which  God  indued  him  as  the  image  of  himself,  in- 
cluding all  these  intellectual  powers  in  their  proper  order,  which  are 
capable  of  contemplating  and  being  exercised,  filled  and  made  happy 
in  divine  and  spiritual  things.  These  are  the  powers,  as  before  stated, 
which  capacitate  man  for  moral,  and,  I  may  add,  for  spiritual  agency  ; 
these  are  they  which  make  man  superior  to  the  irrational  animals. 
Were  it  not  for  these,  the  irrational  animals  could  contemplate,  under- 
stand and  enjoy  God,  in  the  spirit  in  as  superior  a  style  as  men.  But 
the  work  of  the  Gospel  is  to  gain  men  to  the  contemplation  and  en- 
joyment of  their  proper  element  in  obedience  to  God,  and  when  this 
work  is  effected  they  are  not  only  physical  but  spiritual.  Accordingly 
a  natural  man,  carnal  and  sold  under  sin,  who  has  not  yet  found  Christ 
in  the  Gospel,  may  have  a  will  to  do  good,  but  lack  the  power;  "To 
will  is  present  with  me,  but  how  to  perform  that  which  is  good  J  find 
not;"  (Rom.  vii.  18,)  but  he  finds  how  to  perform  by  the  Gospel,  which 
shows  him  what  his  power  and  duty  are. 

When  people  pray  to  God,  that  he  would  give  them  wills  to  believe 
the  Gospel,  or  to  believe  in  Christ,  or  to  keep  his  commandments,  or 
whatever  is  necessary  or  desirable,  do  they  understand  themselves .? 
Ye  ask  ye  know  not  what.  Do  such  people  expect  that  God  will  give 
them  other  wills  besides  those  which  they  have  .''  Or  when  they  look 
to  God,  or  to  Heaven,  as  they  speak,  for  wills,  what  do  they  mean } 
Do  they  expect  that  God  will  create  other  and  better  wills,  and  send 
to  them  .''  If  the  will  be  a  physical  power  of  the  mind,  or  spirit,  it 
is  certain  that  every  man  is  furnished  with  that  faculty  ;  but  if  the  will 
be  not  a  physical  faculty  or  power  of  the  mind,  a  man  can,  in  his  best 
condition,  will  nothing,  either  good  or  evil.  What  then  do  they  mean 
when  they  pray  for  wills  to  be  given  to  them  ?  Every  man  hath  his 
will,  or  faculty  so  called  from  its  appropiate  functions.  The  grand 
desideratum,  or  requisite,  is  the  gaining  of  the  will  to  the  right  object, 
and  there  fixing  it.  To  accomplish  this  all-important  purpose,  the 
Gospel  is  furnished  with  ample  means  Instead,  therefore,  of  praying 
to  God  to  do  the  work,  true  wisdom  directs  all  who  hear  the  Gospel, 
to  attend  to  its  counsels,  and  hearken  to  God  praying  and  beseeching 
them  to  give  him  their  hearts  and  wills,  and  be  reconciled  to  him  ;  or, 
which  is  the  same,  to  his  ministers  who  minister  in  the  behalf  of  God 
and  of  his  Son.  "Now  then,  we  are  ambassadors  for  [on  the  behalf, 
or  instead  of]  Christ ;  as  though  God  did  beseech  j-ou  by  us  ;  we 
pray  you,  in  Christ'' s  stead,  [or  on  the  behalf  of  Christ,]  be  ye  recon- 
ciled to  God.''''  If  we  desire  God  to  hear  us,  let  us  hear  him;  and 
instead  of  asking  him  to  give  us  wills,  hearts  and  dispositions,  let  all 
men  submit  to  God's  requests  to  them,  give  their  hearts  and  their 


48  OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

wills  to  bim,  be  disposed  to  his  service,  be  ready  at  his  call,  (all  which 
is  their  reasonable  service  and  his  reasonable  request,)  and  all  will  be 
well.  And  the  Gospel  is  the  repository  of  all  these  privileges,  to  be 
received  and  occupied  by  faith.  Thus  men  become  renewed  in  (he 
spirit  of  their  minds — thus  God  giveth  the  new  heart  and  printeth  his 
laws  in  their  inward  parts.     But  to  return  to  the  point  in  hand. 

It  is  also  granted,  that  faith  is  the  first  thing  requisite,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  all  the  receiving  and  obeying  of  Christ  in  the  Gospel ;  that 
which  lays  the  foundation  of  justification  and  salvation  in  every  one, 
and  through  which  all  are  made  partakers  of  Christ.  It  will  hardly 
be  disputed,  that  faith  in  the  work  of  salvation  is  always  accompanied 
and  made  perfect  by  works  of  obedience.  "For  in  Jesus  Christ 
neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision  ;  but  faith 
which  worketh  by  love."  "Circumcision  is  nothing,  and  uncircum- 
cision is  nothing,  but  the  keeping  of  the  commandments  of  God." 
"  Seest  thou  how  faith  wrought  with  his  works,  and  by  works  was 
faith  made  perfect.?"  (Gal.  v.  6,  1  Cor.  vii.  19,  Ja.  ii.  22.)  And 
these  are  the  fair  and  equal  terms  on  which  salvation  by  the  Gospel 
is  offered,  these  are  the  proposals  with  which  men  are  called  and 
required  to  comply — believing  and  obeying.  This  is  the  unalterable 
decree  of  God,  that  He  that  beliereth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved; 
and  that.  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned:  faith  worketh  by  love  ; 
and  as  many  as  are  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ ;  they  are 
baptized  into  his  death,  and  are  dead  with  him,  and  alive  with  him 
to  God.  But'the  question  is,  are  men  capable  of  believing  the  Gospel 
on  its  own  authority,  without  any  additional  aid  or  separate  and  pre- 
vious work  of  the  Spirit  preparatory  to  their  believing .''  Or  is  the 
testimony  of  God  in  the  Gospel  which  his  ministers  preach  to  men 
suflScient  to  beget  or  produce  faith  in  those  who  hear,  without  such 
previous  preparatory  work  .'' 

To  give  satisfaction  on  this  subject,  let  it  be  considered,  that  if  men 
are  not  capable  of  believing  the  Gospel  on  its  own  authority,  or  by  the 
testimony  of  God  in  it,  without  such  previous  work,  the  Gospel  can 
be  of  no  service  to  men  in  the  state  of  nature,  to  open  their  eyes,  and 
to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  to 
God,  the  work  for  which  his  ministers  are  sent.  (Acts  xxvi.  18.)  It 
is,  therefore,  no  more  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  ;  because,  instead 
of  being  saved  by  the  Gospel  and  through  faith,  they  are  saved  pre- 
viously to  the  knowledge  or  influence  of  either.  Or  if  it  be  argued 
that  this  previous  work  of  the  Spirit  is  not  saving,  but  only  preparatory 
to  believing,  rendering  men  capable  of  believing,  it  still  renders  the 
Gospel  ineff"ectual  until  that  work  is  done,  consequently,  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  or  word  of  God  is  no  longer  the  mean  of  faith  ;  but 
faith  Cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God ;  if  men 
are  incapable  of  believing  without  said  previous  work,  they  are  no 
longer  guilty  by  not  believing  ;  for,  as  already  proved,  no  man  can  be 
justly  required  to  do  that  which  is  invincibly  out  of  his  reach,  unless 
in  the  case  of  willfully  spending  his  power  by  some  wi'ong  conduct, 
which  could  not  be  the  case  here,  because  a  man  cannot  disbelieve 
the  Gospel  until  he  hear  it  and  have  an  opportunity  of  believing,  and 
there  is  no  promise  of  God  to  do  in  every  man  such  preparatory 
work,  or  to  enable  every  man  to  believe  ;  and  if  that  work  be  neces- 


OF  THE  OFFERS  OP  THE  GOSPEL.  49 

sary,  and  yet  be  not  done  in  every  man,  those  who  never  receive  it, 
and  therefore  never  believe  or  obey,  are  clear.  Neither  can  there 
possibly  be  any  method  for  men  to  take,  to  get  that  work  done  in 
them,  for  the  first  thing  is  to  believe,  and  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is 
sin.  On  this  plan,  therefore,  of  a  necessarily  previous  work  of  the 
Spirit,  before  believing,  how  uncandid  and  disingenuous  is  that  saying 
of  Christ,  "  He  that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already ;  because  he 
hath  not  believed  in  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God."  But  let  God  be 
true,  but  every  man  a  liar ;  and  so  remain,  until  he  come  to  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  truth  of  God. 

I  speak  of  God  as  the  God  of  truth  who  cannot  lie,  and  of  the 
Gospel  and  its  proposals,  and  of  the  testimony  of  God  in  it,  as  being 
all  the  most  liberal  and  fair,  without  any  deception.  The  proposals 
then  are  plain  and  intelligible,  addressed  to  men's  understanding  and 
reason,  leaving  them  in  the  unmolested  right  and  prerogative,  to  act 
freely,  and  settling  them,  in  that  respect,  on  just  and  equal  footing 
with  God,  because  he  giveth  to  all  a  fair  opportunity  to  plead  their 
cause.  And  we  have  seen  clearly  enough,  that  there  is  no  other  plan 
on  which  God  can  be  just,  and  condemn  the  unbeliever. 

I  know  it  is  sometimes  argued  that  God  can  do  with  men  what  he 
will,  and  that  he  hath  a  right  to  do  what  he  will  with  them.  But  in 
such  a  case  as  this,  it  is  foolish  talking.  We  know  that  God  hath  a 
right  to  do  what  he  will  with  his  creatures  ;  but  we  know  also,  that  it 
is  impossible  that  God  should  will  to  do  that  which  is  unjust,  unfair, 
or  unreasonable.  It  is  impossible  that  he  should  propose  to  men  a 
plan  for  their  salvation,  in  their  own  language,  in  plain,  intelligible 
terms,  consistent  with  the  understanding  and  reason  of  men,  and  yet 
the  pivot  on  which  their  salvation  is  to  turn  be  kept  out  of  their  sight 
or  reach,  and  then  condemn  them  on  the  principle  of  not  complying. 
God  hath,  therefore,  no  right  to  do  that  which  is  unjust  with  his 
creatures ;  or  to  propose  to  them  salvation  on  terms  apparently  fair 
and  equal,  and  adapted  in  all  things  to  their  condition,  when  radically, 
and  by  some  unknown  prerequisite,  unattainable  by  them,  they  are 
out  of  their  reach  :  God  cannot  lie,  neither  can  he  do  unjustly,  "  God 
is  not  a  man  that  he  should  lie  ;  neither  the  son  of  man  that  he  should 
repent :  hath  he  said  and  shall  he  not  do  it  .'*  or  hath  he  spoken,  and 
shall  he  not  make  it  good  .'"'  (Num.  xxiii.  19.) 

It  is  probably  time  to  remove  another  shelter  of  the  enemy  in  souls: 
who  are  bound  under  sin — a  grievous  difficulty.  Man  is  fallen  and 
corrupted,  his  mind  and  conscience  defiled,  hence  it  is  argued  that 
his  reason  is  unsafe,  and  it  is  dangerous  to  appeal  to  it  in  the  things 
pertaining  to  the  work  of  God,  or  his  dealings  with  men  for  their  salr 
vation.  And  so  far  is  this  carried  by  some,  that  when  they  are  com- 
pletely run  aground  in  argument,  they  will  ward  off  conviction  by 
pleading  that  men's  reason  is  unsafe,  and  we  may  be  mistaken.  Now 
let  it  be  considered  to  what  this  kind  of  reasoning  would  lead.  (For 
such  count  it  good  reasoning.)  If  man's  reason  is  so  subverted  and 
unsafe  that  he  cannot  reason  safely,  What  is  the  use  of  offering  him 
such  an  argument,  for  how  shall  he  know  whether  it  is  right  or  wrong, 
just  or  unjust  ?  the  argument  overthrows  itself.  If  man  cannot  rea- 
son safely,  what  is  the  use  of  offering  him  any  argument  or  of  using 
means  for  his  conviction  .''  And  wherein  is  the  propriety  of  God's  ad 
5 


\ 


50  OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

dressinof  the  reason  and  conscience  of  men  in  all  his  dealings  with 
them  ?  if  there  he  in  man  no  certain  receptacle  of  evidence,  no  cri- 
terion of  truth,  no  intellectual  powers  capable  of  examining  and  de- 
ciding on  genuine  faith  in  God  or  any  other  truth  ;  for  faith  is  con- 
viction, the  fruit  of  evidence.  On  that  plan  all  endeavours  to  convince 
men  of  the  truth,  are  void ;  and  all  the  pungent  arguments  of  the 
apostles  and  ministers  of  Christ  are  a  blank,  a  mere  affectation.  How 
do  men  come  to  believe  that  God  is  .''  or  that  Christ  is  ?  or  that  there 
is  such  a  town  in  China  as  Pekin,  who  never  saw  that  place  .''  They 
all  believe  it  by  evidence,  and  there  is  no  uncertainty  or  doubt  in  the 
case.  But  God,  before  whose  eyes  all  things  are  naked  and  bare, 
and  who  knows  men  in  every  part,  by  his  dealings  with  them  proves  to 
full  evidence,  that  reason  in  man  is  the  very  same  as  in  himself;  and 
that  man  is  capable  of  being  informed  and  convinced  of  what  is  right 
and  what  is  wrong,  by  the  same  reasons  which  appear  just  to  him. 
Witness  Abraham  :  "  Wilt  thou  also  destroy  the  righteous  with  the 
wickedl  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  rights  (Gen.  xviii. 
23,  25,)  and  God  agreed  to  his  reasoning.  And  so  it  is  found  in  every 
case,  that  good  reason  to  men  is  good  reason  to  God,  provided  the 
intellectual  and  reasoning  powers  of  men  are  divested  of  prejudice 
and  left  to  their  proper  operations.  Thus  the  reason  of  man  tells  him 
that  it  is  wrong  to  punish  a  just  man ;  that  it  is  duty  to  relieve  the 
distressed ;  to  render  to  man  his  due,  and  to  worship  God.  In  all 
which,  and  a  multitude  of  other  cases,  the  sameness  of  reason,  as  it 
exists  in  God  and  in  man,  is  evident. 

All  this,  however,  is  not  intended  to  argue  that  the  understanding, 
knowledge  and  reasoning  powers  of  man  are  equal  to  those  of  God. 
Man  is  limited  to  his  own  sphere  ;  but  as  far  as  man's  reason  is  in- 
formed of  the  nature  of  things,  its  decisions  accord  with  the  mind  of 
God.  And  it  cannot  otherwise  be,  because  the  reasoning  powers  in 
man  are  emanations  from  God,  and  his  likeness  in  man,  and  constitute 
him  God's  image  and  representative,  as  a  moral  agent.  Hence  it  is 
that  a  man  feels  guilty  for  doing  those  things  which  God  hath  for- 
bidden, because  he  is  convinced  in  his  heart  that  God's  requisitions 
are  fair  and  his  prohibitions  just ;  for  until  this  is  his  conviction,  he 
feels  himself  under  no  burden  of  guilt.  And  many  things  are  required 
by  God,  and  many  disapproved,  of  which  man  has  no  knowledge  until 
informed  ;  but  when  informed,  and  the  reasons  shown  him,  his  reason 
acknowledges  their  propriety  on  the  one  hand,  and  their  impropriety 
on  the  other.  It  is  also  according  to  reason  in  God  and  in  man,  that 
man  should  submit  to  what  God  requires  in  those  things  which  he  can- 
not wholly  comprehend,  because  he  believes  God  is  the  greatest,  best 
and  wisest  judge.  On  the  whole,  it  is  evidently  safe  to  address  the 
reason  of  men  for  their  information  and  conviction  in  the  things  per- 
taining to  God  and  salvation,  and  improper  to  reject  reason  in  main- 
taining any  sentiment  or  practice. 

But  the  ground  on  which  men's  reasonings  are  unsafe  and  prepos- 
terous, is  their  reasoning  from  their  feelings  and  passions,  according 
to  fallen  nature  in  its  corrupt  state,  being  governed  by  these  them- 
selves, and  requiring  God's  works  and  judgments  to  be  subject  to  the 
same,  that  their  own  will  may  be  done  instead  of  the  will  of  God. 
But  to  submit  to  right  reason,  as  it  occupies  the  true  place  in  man's 


OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  51 

mind,  addressed  by  the  revelation  of  God,  is  no  other  than  to  submit 
to  the  will  of  God. 

Many,  indeed,  speak  scornfully  of  appealing  to  the  rationality  of 
men,  and  especially  in  the  unregenerate  and  unbelieving,  for  the  con- 
sistency and  propriety  of  the  Gospel  testimony.  But  it  might  be  asked, 
with  what  propriety  would  the  Gospel  be  preached  to  the  world  of 
unbelievers,  if  that  opinion  were  patronized  by  its  advocates,  that  it 
is  inconsistent  with  reason  .''  Could  that  which  is  unreasonable  be 
recommended  to  mankind  for  their  acceptance  .''  Although  the  Gos- 
pel could  not  have  been  contrived  by  the  reason  of  men,  but  by  the 
revelation  of  God,  and  is  not  to  be  taught  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  nor 
in  the  words  of  their  wisdom,  but  in  the  wisdom  and  words  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  yet  when  taught,  it  is  congenial  with  the  reason  of  men,  and 
calculated  to  gain  their  consent  to  its  truth.  And  this  agreement  of 
the  Gospel  testimony  with  the  rationality  in  man,  shows  the  source  of 
that  rationality,  and  that  it  is  the  same  in  men  as  in  God,  consequent- 
ly, that  men  are  not  deceived  in  receiving  that  for  the  true  Gospel 
which  is  according  to  right  reason.  It  also  shows  that  we  are  not 
wrong  in  appealing  to  the  rationality  of  man  in  conjunction  with  the 
revelation  of  God  for  the  trial  of  sentiments,  and  expecting  to  demon- 
strate the  trvie  judgment  of  God  in  so  doing.  God  doth  not  require 
men  to  worship  him  in  uncertainty,  or  without  reason,  but  with  the 
spirit  and  with  the  understanding.   (1  Cor.  xiv.  15.) 

Now  to  pursue  the  inquiry.  Whether  men  are  capable  of  believing  the 
Gospel  on  its  own  authority,  or  the  authority  of  the  testimony  of  God  there- 
in, without  additional  aid,  or  any  previous  internal  and  direct  opera- 
tion of  the  Spirit,  preparatory  to  believing,  the  position  may  be  renewed, 
That  if  they  are  not,  (hey  cannot  be  guilty  for  not  believing.  For  the 
only  foundation  of  guilt  in  man  is  his  transgressing  against  knowledge 
and  power.  The  man  who  has  done  wrong  and  knows  he  ought  and 
could  have  done  better,  is  subject  to  guilt,  and  none  else.  Who  feels 
guilty  in  doing  the  best  he  knows  and  has  power  to  do  t  And  who 
can  violate  knowledge  and  power,  and  feel  innocent .'' 

I  will  not  deny  that  people  may  feel  in  great  distress  on  account 
of  failing  in  their  duty,  when  they  know  not  how  to  perform  it,  neither 
believe  they  are  able,  through  the  teaching  of  false  guides.  The 
opinion  may  also  be  palmed  upon  them,  that  they  are  guilty ;  but  the 
conscientious  feeling  of  guilt  is  out  of  the  question,  any  further  than 
the  mind  is  convinced  of  the  propriety  of  the  duty,  and  of  its  practica- 
bility. Thus  many  public  preachers  urge  the  necessity  and  duty  of 
believing  in  Christ  for  salvation,  as  the  sine  qua  non,  or  one  thing 
needful,  of  every  man's  acceptance  ;  and  at  the  same  time  maintain 
that  no  man  can  believe  as  the  Gospel  requireth,  until  God  lend  his 
aid  and  do  that  work  in  him  which  none  else  can  do  ;  and,  preposter- 
ously enough  to  be  sure,  presume  to  charge  the  guilty  culprit  with  the 
enormous  crime  of  rejecting  Christ,  crucifying  the  Son  of  God,  tramp- 
ling him  under  his  feet,  counting  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  where- 
with he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and  doing  despite  to  the  Spirit 
of  grace.  And  all  this  atrocious  criminality  is  for  not  complying  with 
an  impossibility  ;  for  God  hath  not  yet  wrought  in  them  the  indispen- 
sable, preparatory  work.  Thus  have  multitudes  been  beaten  and  ground, 
as  it  were,  between  two  millstones,  surrounded  with  the  terrors  of 


52  OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

death  and  the  forebodings  of  eternal  vengeance,  by  those  who  pretend 
to  be  preachers  of  the  true  Gospel,  sent  of  God,  to  turn  sinners  from 
darkness  to  light,  and  none  of  them  could  tell  one  soul  the  way,  so 
that  he  could  surely  find  it.     Blind  guides  leading  the  blind. 

But  such  will  object,  that  this  statement  is  ungenerous  ;  that  they  do 
not  teach  that  men  are  criminated  or  condemned  for  not  complying  with 
an  impossibility,  but  for  not  complying  with  their  obvious  duty  ;  which 
is,  in  the  first  place,  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  as  he  is  offered  in  the 
Gospel,  and  then  God  would  set  them  on  safe  ground,  and  supply  them 
with  every  needful  aid  to  perform  all  the  rest.  But  even  after  men 
are  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  and  the  propriety  and  duty  of 
believing  in  Christ,  can  they  comply  with  this  duty,  until  God  do  that 
additional,  previous  work?  No  matter  what  that  work  is  called.  Some 
call  it  regeneration,  some  illumination,  and  some  the  giving  of  a  new 
principle  of  spiritual  life.  But  is  it  possible  for  them  to  comply  without 
it,  or  before  it  is  wrought  .•'  The  answer  is  negative.  How  then  are 
they  guilty,  if  they  would  call  on  him  and  submit  to  his  hand  ?  "  For 
whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.  But  how 
shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  "  believed  .?  "  or  how 
shall  they  submit  to  him  in  whom  they  have  no  faith  .''  "  And  without 
faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him,  for  he  that  cometh  to  God  must  be- 
lieve that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek 
him."  (Heb.  xi.  6.)  So  that  faith,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  acknowledgment  of  those  preachers,  is  the  first  point  to 
be  gained  towards  acceptance  ;  for  whatsover  is  not  of  faith  is  sin,  and  if 
faith  is  out  of  man'*  reach,  before  such  additional,  or  previous  work, 
men  are  left  where  thy  were,  to  be  condemned  for  not  complying 
with  an  impossibility.  It  is  vanity  to  plead  it  is  not  an  impossibility, 
because  the  things  which  are  not  possible  with  men  are  possible  with 
God  ;  and  that  although  men  cannot  believe  of  themselves,  (as  they 
term  it,)  that  therefore  believing  is  not  their  reasonable  duty,  for  there 
is  possibility  and  power  in  God  for  them  to  believe,  and  they  ought  to 
come  to  God,  and  he  would  afford  them  help  :  he  hath  given  full  au- 
thority. But  he  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe.  The  good  and 
gracious  physician  has  infallible  medicine  in  plenty,  and  he  will  give  it 
to  the  sick  man,  if  he  will  only  just  get  well,  take  it,  and  vse  it  !  f 
"  But  he  ihat  believeth  not,  is  condemned  already  ;  because  he  hath 
not  believed  in  the  name  of  the  Son  of  God."  Why  condemned  for 
not  believing.''  Because  it  is  his  privilege  to  believe  ;  not  of  himself, 
as  the  blind  object,  who  cannot  discern  the  difference  between  a  man'g 
believing  of  himself,  or  on  his  own  authority,  and  his  believing  on  the 
authority  of  God,  proclaimed  in  the  Gospel. 

But  if  the  testimony  of  God,  promulgated  in  the  Gospel,  he  not 
sufficient  authority  foi  men  to  believe,  or  if  they  cannot  believe,  with- 
out some  additional  authority  or  power,  how  are  they  condemned  for 
not  believing?  Would  it  not  be  unjust  in  God,  to  make  such  pro- 
pi  sals  of  eternal  life  to  men,  so  encouraging  and  unreserved,  on  the 
re:  sonable  terms  of  believins:  and  obeying,  if  these  terms  are  out  of 
thf  reach  of  those  to  whom  these  offers  are  made  ?  Are  not  all  these 
offers  a  specious  parade,  unworthy  of  the  character  of  the  Creator 
and  Judge  of  all  men  ?  Would  it  not  be  cruel  and  unjust  in  a  physi- 
cian to  offer  a  .sick  man  relief,  and  hold  out  the  most  ffattering  en- 


OP  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  53 

couragements  of  life,  but  have  the  matter  covertly  depending  on  such 
conditions  that  a  compliance  would  be  impracticable  ?  Would  not  every 
one  cry  out  against  him,  as  being  ungenerous  and  wicked  ?  How  un- 
generously then,  must  such  a  representation  of  God's  dealings  with 
men  tarnish  the  glory  of  his  character  ?  What  ?  Is  God  more  unjust 
than  man  ?  Or  shall  that  be  foisted  on  God,  with  impunity,  which 
would  ruin  the  character  of  a  man  ?  But  God,  say  the}',  hath  a  right 
to  do  what  he  will  with  his  creatures,  and  to  treat  them  as  seemeth 
good  to  him.  I  have  already  proved  that  notion  to  be  falsely  applied 
in  such  matters  as  these :  it  is  an  evasion  of  the  d^vil,  to  injure  the 
souls  of  men.  God  hath  no  right,  neither  doth  he  claim  any,  to  make 
specious  proposals  of  mercy  to  his  creatures,  under  the  mask  of  their 
being  true,  and  theii  not  verify  his  sayings  :  "  Hath  he  spoken,  and 
shall  he  not  make  it  good  .?" 

Yea,  but  say  some,  God  is  just  and  his  character  unstained,  the  fair 
ofTers  of  the  Gospel  and  man's  inability  to  believe  notwithstanding  ; 
because,  although  they  have  now  no  power  to  believe,  or  at  all  to 
comply  with  the  terms  of  the  Gospel,  they  once  had  powder  when  God 
first  created  them,  which  power  they  have  now  lost  by  the  fall  and  the 
consequent  sins  ;  it  is,  therefore,  just  in  God,  to  offer  them  salvation 
on  such  terms  as  are  out  of  their  reach,  and  require  them  to  comply, 
with  the  awful  sanction  of  more  aggravated  guilt  than  if  they  had 
never  heard,  and  so  leave  them  without  excuse,  because  they  have 
wasted  the  power  which  they  had.  He  is  therefore  at  full  liberty  to 
select  whom  he  will  as  the  election  of  his  grace,  and  minister  to  them, 
as  the  special  objects  of  his  favour,  all  needed  aid,  and  leave  the  rest 
without  that  aid,  to  perish  in  their  unbelief,  adding  to  all  their  other 
sins  the  sin  of  rejecting  and  despising  Christ.  Many  are  the  subter- 
fuges of  the  carnal  mmd,  to  escape  the  force  of  truth,  and  many  the 
ungenerous  charges  which  are  palmed  on  the  character  of  the  right- 
eous God,  but  none  are  more  heinous  than  this.  It  is  common  for  those 
who  love  their  own  ease  and  disobedience,  to  roll  over  their  own  sin 
and  that  of  others  on  God.  The  subject  however  is  worthy  of  a  fair 
examination. 

And  in  the  first  place,  let  it  be  inquired  to  whom  is  the  Gospel 
sent.'  To  man,  it  will  be  granted:  Go  teach  all  nations.  In  what 
state  .''  as  being  sinners  or  as  being  holy  as  they  were  before  the  fall .'' 
Not  as  holy,  but  sinners  who  were  ruined  by  the  fall  before  the  Gos- 
pel was  sent.  "  They  that  are  whole  need  not  a  physician ;  but  they 
that  are  sick.  1  came  not  to  call  the  righteous j  but  sinners,  to  repent- 
tance.^^  (Luke  v.  31,32.)  "For  the  love  of  Christ  constraiceth  us, 
because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead." 
(2  Cor.  v.  14.)  "But  God  hath  commended  his  love  towards  us,  in 
that  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us."  The  Gospel 
therefore  in  its  first  proposals,  its  first  mission  into  the  world,  in  the 
whole  commission  of  Christ  and  his  ministers,  hath  respect  to  men  in 
their  fallen  state  ;  to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness 
to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  to  God,  that  they  may  receive 
forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  that  are  sanctified  by 
faith  towards  God.  The  Gospel  then  is  professedly  for  the  purpose 
of  recovering  and  saving  men  to  whom  it  is  sent,  from  all  the  effects 
of  the  fall.     As  said  the  angel,  "And  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus, 


54  OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

for  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins  ;"  (Matt.  i.  21  ;)  and 
John  the  Baptist,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world."  (Jno.  i.  20.)  "  For  when  we  were  yet  with- 
out strength  in  due  time  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly.  For  scarcely 
for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die  ;  yet  peradventure  for  a  good  man 
some  would  even  dare  to  die.  But  God  commendeth  his  love  to- 
wards us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us.''''  (Rom.  v. 
6,  &c.)  But  it  is  needless  to  multiply  scriptures;  it  is  sufficiently  plain 
that  the  Gospel  is  sent  on  purpose  for  the  recovery  and  salvation  of 
those  who  have  suffered  the  effects  of  the  fall,  and  it  comes  to  them 
with  most  unreserved  and  flattering  proposals,  that  whosoever  will  may 
he  saved.  It  is  therefore  impossible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  any 
man  can  have  lost  any  power  or  capability  of  believing  and  obeying  the 
Gospel,  or  any  qualification  for  being  saved  by  it,  which  he  had  wheri 
it  was  sent  to  him,  until  he  hath  heard  it  and  proved  its  influence  on 
'him.  And  as  long  as  the  Gospel  is  in  his  offer  with  the  same  proposals, 
it  will  remain  in  the  same  unreserved  liberality,  and  his  access  to  the 
salvation  be  as  free  as  to  the  streams  of  water,  unless  he  waste  his  own 
power  and  day  of  his  visitation  by  disobedience  ;  he  will  then  be  self- 
condemned  and  know  for  what. 

But  to  suppose  or  plead  that  the  truth  and  justice  of  God  are  vindi- 
cated in  proposing  such  equitable  and  apparently  practicable  terms  in 
the  Gospel,  while  secretly  depending  on  a  power  out  of  man's  reach  or 
disposal,  by  urging  and  intimating  that  man  lost  his  power  to  believe 
and  obey,  or  forfeited  his  right  to  divine  aid  by  the  fall  ;  and  that  there- 
fore God  hath  a  right  to  deliver  whom  he  will  and  to  leave  the  rest  to 
perish,  chargeable  with  the  sin  of  unbelief  and  disobedience,  is  so  far 
from  exculpating  the  character  of  God,  that  it  accuses  and  criminates 
him  before  the  bar  of  reason  and  common  sense,  which  he  himself  hath 
created  in  every  man's  breast.  As  if  a  physician  should  come  to  a 
sick  man,  who  had  gone  into  the  water  after  being  warned  against  it, 
and  brought  on  himself  an  attack  of  the  pleurisy,  and  propose  on  very 
flattering  terms  to  cure  him  of  his  disease,  by  which  he  had  been  seized 
through  his  intemperance  ;  terms  apparently  easy  to  be  complied  with, 
but  on  account  of  something  covered  under  an  occult  reserve  in  his 
mind,  or  withheld  in  time  of  need,  the  man  is  unable  to  receive  the 
cure,  but  rendered  more  miserable  by  hearing  the  news,  while  doing 
the  best  he  can.  The  physician  then  replies,  in  person  or  by  his  abet- 
tors, that  it  is  just  he  should  die  of  his  disease,  because  he  destroyed  his 
health  by  going  into  the  water  ;  and  yet  the  doctor  knew  all  this  before, 
and  proposedly  undertook  to  recover  him  from  the  effects  of  his  trans- 
gression. Would  this  argument  exculpate  the  doctor  in  the  judgment 
of  charity,  reason  or  common  sense  ^  Would  not  rather  every  man 
condemn  him  as  a  traitor,  unwilling  or  unable  to  cure  the  man,  but  ta- 
king pleasure  in  his  misery?  Thus  God  is  unjustly  charged  with 
mocking  the  miseries  of  men,  by  offering  them  salvation  on  equal  terms, 
suited  to  their  condition,  and  then  withholding  the  necessary  aid  to 
complete  the  plan,  after  having  declared  it  already  sufficient. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  proverb  in  Israel,  that  The  fathers  have 
eaten  sour  grapes  andthe  children''s  teeth  are  set  on  edge,  indicating  their 
belief,  that  the  children  were  suffering  for  their  fathers'  deeds.  But 
this  was  an  unjust  proverb,  and  the  Lord  reproved  it,  saying  ;  "  What 


OF  THE  OFFEKS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  55 

snean  ye  that  ye  use  this  proverb  concerning  the  land  of  Israel  ?  Be- 
hold, all  souls  are  mine  ;  as  the  soul  of  the  father,  so  also  the  soul  of 
the  son  is  mine ;  the  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die."  And  it  was  or- 
dained by  the  law  of  Moses  ;  "  The  fathers  shall  not  be  put  to  death 
for  the  children,  neither  shall  the  children  be  put  to  death  for  the  fa- 
thers; every  man  shall  be  put  to  death  for  his  own  sin."  (Ezek.  xviii. 
2.  &c.  Deut.  xxiv.  16.)  And  if  under  the  law,  surely  no  less  under 
the  Gospel,  the  soul  that  sinneth  shall  die,  each  one  for  his  own  sin, 
and  not  the  sin  of  his  father  ;  and  the  just  shall  live  by  his  faith  and  in 
his  obedience.  We  need  not  deny  that  by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
world  and  death  by  sin  ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all 
have  sinned.  But  I  am  no  more  personally  guilty  by  Adam's  trans- 
gression, without  my  own  acts,  than  by  his  being  created  innocent.  If 
death  has  passed  upon  all  men,  it  is  plain  enough  how  it  came  so  to  do, 
because  all  have  sinned.  Neither  is  it  any  more  positive  sin  in  me  to 
have  been  born  in  a  corrupt  and  fallen  nature  and  thereby  in  a  state  of 
the  deepest  depravity,  than  to  have  been  born  in  a  state  of  purity.  My 
sin,  and  the  sin  of  every  other  man  and  woman,  is  yielding  to  tempta- 
tion. 

Mankind,  it  is  true,  are  by  the  fall  corrupted  as  coming  from  a  cor- 
rupt source,  and  therefore  more  easily  inclined  to  evil  than  to  good; 
the  current  of  their  nature  is  evil ;  so  manifest!}^  do  the  effects  of  the 
fall  appear  in  them  according  to  what  is  written,  that  '■'■by  one  man 
sin  enleredinto  the  M;or/t^and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death  passed  upon  all 
men,  for  that  all  have  sinned,"  and  that  "  by  one  man''s  disobedience 
many  were  made  sinners.''''  For  '■'■who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an 
unclean  ?  Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity  :  and  in  sin  did  my  mother 
conceive  tne,^^  (in  lust  of  coition.  Heb.  by  a  work  inw'hich  God  is  not 
known,  and  in  which  he  hath  no  place  or  part,  having  been  excluded 
from  the  beginning.  Rom. .v.  12,  19.  Job  xiv.  4.  Psa.  li.  5.)  But 
all  these  things  prove  no  actual  or  positive  sin  M'ithout  the  actions 
which  are  the  fruits  of  this  fallen  nature,  "  Then,  when  lust  hath  con- 
ceived, it  bringeth  forth  sin ;  and  sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bringeth 
forth  death."  (Jas.  i.  15.)  A  man  therefore  dies  for  his  own  sins. 
Every  man  has  to  give  an  account  of  himself,  but  none  of  his  father  ; 
it  is  therefore  impossible  that  God  should  charge  a  man  with  the  sin 
of  his  father  Adam,  so  as  to  withhold  from  him  the  benefits  of  the 
Gospel  or  any  thing  belonging  thereto,  or  to  distinguish  one  from  anoth- 
er without  respect  to  their  works. 

The  very  popular  argument  of  long  standing,  that  Adam  was  the 
head  and  representative  of  the  human  race,  whether  it  be  said  natu- 
ral, legal  or  federal,  and  that  by  his  representation  or  headship,  they 
became  criminated,  is  too  absurd  and  preposterous  to  have  place  in  the 
mind  of  any  reflecting  and  consistent  man.  As  well  might  the  citi- 
zens of  America  be  criminated  with  the  legislative  acts  of  their  repre- 
sentatives who  guaranty  the  practice  of  negro  slavery.  But  every 
man  who  from  a  real  principle  of  equity  towards  God  and  his  fellow- 
men,  keeps  his  hands  clean  from  the  execrated  practice,  and  his 
heart  and  tongue  free,  by  holding  no  fellowship  with  it,  but  rather 
reproving  it,  is  personally  innocent  from  the  criminality  of  those  ini- 
quitous acts.  Notwithstanding,  being  a  member  of  the  community 
he  may  for  a  time  be  subjected,  though  guiltless,  to  many  of  the   in- 


56  OF    THE    OFFERS    OF    THE    GOSPEL.. 

conveniences  and  distresses  which  result  from  those  laws.  And 
many  who  are  by  nature,  or  from  infancy,  as  it  were,  imbued  with  the 
principles  and  spirit  of  slavery,  naturally  run  into  the  same  unright- 
eous practice,  and  so,  especially  after  being  taught  better  things,  be- 
come more  or  less  guilty  of  the  deeds  of  their  fathers  or  representa- 
tives, by  doing  the  game  things.  So  Adam  being  the  natural  head 
of  his  posterity,  by  ordinary  generation,  hath  imbued  and  initiated 
them  all  in  the  nature  of  iniquity,  and  they  by  doing  the  same  deeds- 
and  others  of  the  same  nature,  and  so  taking  part  with  their  fathers' 
iniquity,  and  especially  after  being  informed  that  these  things  are 
wrong,  become  guilty  with  him;  And  so  death  passed  vpon  all  men 
for  that  all  have  sinned.  Truly  ye  bear  witness  that  ye  allow  the  deeds 
of  your  fathers.  But  as  they  who  keep  themselves  clear  of  the  prac- 
tice and  positive  iniquity  of  slavery,  being  of  the  community  where  the 
evil  prevails,  may  suffer  many  temporary  evils  which  result  from  it^ 
so  the  posterity  of  Adam  who  never  committed  actual  sin,  and  are 
therefore  not  guilty,  suffer  some  of  the  evil  effects  of  his  sin.  "  For 
until  the  law  sin  was  in  the  world  ;  but  sin  is  not  imputed  where  there 
is  no  law.  Nevertheless^  death  reigned  from  Adam  to  Moses  even  over 
them  that  had  not  sinned  after  the  similitude  of  Adarti's  transgression.''^ 
(Rom   V.  13,  14.) 

But  this  is  not  to  prevent  them  from  salvation  by  the  Gospel,  for 
it  is  sent  to  save  from  the  sin  of  Adam  and  all  its  branches,  all  those 
who  believe  and  obey.  "  For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many 
were  made  sinners,  [disobeying  in  his  nature  and  after  his  exam- 
ple ;  for  that  all  have  sinned.^]  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many 
be  made  righteous."  (Even  all  those  who  obey  as  he  did  after  his 
example  and  in  his  spirit ;  For  if  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ 
he  is  none  of  his;  and  He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous  even  as  he  is 
righteous  on  the  very  same  principle.) 

As  for  the  more  modern  argument  that  as  Levi  paid  tithes  in  Abra- 
ham, so  Adam's  posterity  sinned  in  him,  it  utterly  disannuUs  all  charges 
of  guilt  against  Adam's  posterity ;  (otherwise  than  as  slated  above;) 
neither  does  it  even  prove  or  exemplify  the  nature  of  sin  communi- 
cated from  Adam  to  his  posterity,  much  less  any  personal  or  real  guilt. 
For  it  is  evident  that  Levi  did  not  actually  or  really  pay  tithes  itt 
Abraham,  neither  did  Abraham's  paying  of  tithes  communicate  any 
disposition  to  Levi  to  do  the  same,  as  Adam's  transgression  did,  by 
giving  iniquity  the  prevalence  in  nature  to  his  children.  The  Apostle 
in  showing  the  superiority  of  the  priesthood  of  Christ,  who  was 
made  priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  over  that  of  Levi  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham,  hath  this  language,  which  is  evidently  metapho- 
rical :  "  And,  as  I  may  so  say,  Levi  also,  who  receiveth  tithes,  paid 
tithes  in  Abraham.  For  he  was  yet  in  the  loins  of  his  father  when 
Melchisedec  met  him."  (Heb.  vii.  9,  10.)  If  therefore  it  be  asked. 
Must  I  believe  that  Levi  paid  tithes  in  the  loins  of  Abraham,  and 
yet  deny,  that  mankind  rendered  disobedience  unto  God  in  Adam 
when  he  violated  the  law  of  God  ?  It  is  easy  to  reply,  Thou  art 
not  obliged  to  believe  eiiher  the  one  or  the  other,  because  revelatioB 
hath  taught  neither  ;  unless  by  mankind  be  meant  the  first  parents 
only,  or  by  disobedience  be  meant  the  receiving  of  a  sinful  disposition 
m  nature  as  stated  above. 


OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  57 

It  is  nevertheless  true,  that  as  certainly  as  Adam's  seed,  had  he 
kept  covenant  wiih  God,  as  their  proper  father  and  head,  would  have 
inherited  the  blessing  as  their  legal  and  proper  inheritance,  legally 
descending  to  them  by  their  keeping  the  covenant  of  God  with  him, 
(for  if  the  heirs  violate  the  law  or  covenant  of  their  father  they  for- 
feit their  right  of  inheritance,)  so  certainly  and  equitably,  when  he 
broke  the  covenant,  they  lost  the  whole,  together  with  him.  For 
when  the  father  or  representative  in  covenant,  forfeits  the  right  of  in- 
heritance, or  barters  it  away,  in  his  lifetime,  the  heirs  are  disinherit- 
ed of  course.  Yet  they  are  not  guilty  of  their  fathers'  deeds,  unless 
they  make  them  theirs  by  approving  or  doing  the  same.  And  when 
Adam  fell,  his  posterity  in  that  character  and  standing  were  put 
past  recovery.  No  hope  remained  of  their  ever  coming  to  the  tree 
of  life,  unless  by  becoming  the  heirs  of  another  covenant  head,' the  chil- 
dren of  another  parentage.  This  parentage  with  the  right  of  inher- 
itance is  found  in  good  order  and  safe  standing  in  Christ ;  to  whom 
lost  men  become  united  by  faith,  and  keep  covenant  together  with 
him,  and  by  his  grace,  who  hath  kept  it  safely  on  their  behalf.  For 
as  he  hath  kept  the  covenant  without  a  flaw,  the  inheritance  is  se- 
cured to  those  who  by  faith  enter  into  the  same  perfect  law  of  liberty 
and  continue  therein ;  and  they  become  joint  heirs  with  him,  who  are 
not  of  those  who  draw  back  to  perdition,  but  of  those  who  believe  to 
the  saving  of  the  soul.  For  the  just  shall  live  by  faith  ;  but  if  he 
draw  back,  my  soul,  saith  God,  shall  have  no  pleasure  in  him.  The 
Gospel,  therefore,  remains  in  its  full  authority  according  to  its  pro- 
posals ;  which  are  to  recover  man  from  the  ruin  and  evils  of  the  fall ; 
and  these  proposals  are  sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  God,  with  full 
privilege  for  every  one  to  believe  and  obey. 

If  then  this  privilege  is  sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  God,  and 
the  calls  and  invitations  are  given  to  every  one,  why  may  not,  or  why 
cannot  any  one  believe  }  Can  any  good  reason  be  given  why  any 
man  shall  not,  or  cannot,  believe  the  testimony  of  the  God  of  truth  ? 
Men  can  believe  a  man,  if  he  come  to  them  with  a  reasonable  report, 
and  why  not  believe  God  ?  Or  rather,  how  shall  they  disbelieve,  who 
have  already  the  persuasion,  or  faith,  that  God  is  a  God  of  truth,  and 
that  the  Scriptures  are  true  .''  No  doubt,  one  principal  source  of 
difficulty  on  this  subject  is  the  notion  that  faith  is  a  direct  and  special 
gift  or  operation  of  God,  whereby  the  soul  is  renovated  and  moulded 
into  the  divine  nature,  previously  to  the  workings  of  faith  or  the 
man's  obedience.  Thus  men  look  for  the  fruits  of  faith  or  the  Gospel, 
before  they  put  it  into  operation  by  living  according  to  Christ  the 
true  example,  author  and  finisher  of  faith.  Whereas  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  one  who  receives  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  or  testimony  of 
God  in  the  Gospel,  to  put  it  into  practice,  according  to  the  measure 
of  his  faith,  and  then  expect  the  fruits  with  an  increase  of  faith.  But 
faith  without  obedience  can  neither  sanctify  nor  justify,  as  shown  in 
its  place.  "If  we  receive  the  witness  [or  Greek,  testimony]  of  men, 
the  testimony  of  God  is  greater  :  for  this  is  the  testimony  of  God 
which  he  hath  testified  concerning  his  Son.  He  who  belie veth  hath 
the  testimony  in  himself;  [it  hath  entered  into  him  by  the  report  of 
the  Gospel,  and  he  hath  laid  it  up  and  put  it  to  its  proper  use  ;]  he 
who  believeth  not  God  hath  made  him  a  liar,  because  he  hath  not 


58P  OF    THE    OFFERS    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

believed  the  testimony  which  God  hath  testified  concerning  his  Son." 
And  very  justly  should  he  he  charged  with  this  sin  who  will  not 
believe  on  the  authority  of  God.  "And  this  is  the  testimony  (of  God 
concerning  his  Son,  to  be  believed,  and  which  whosoever  doth  not 
believe  maketh  God  a  liar,)  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life  : 
and  this  life  is  in  his  Son."  (1  John  v.  9,  &c.)  Thus  fully  is"  the 
authority  of  God  declared  for  the  faith  and  acceptance  of  every  man, 
that  he  who  disbelieveth  it  maketh  God  a  liar.  No  good  reason 
therefore  can  be  given,  why  men  may  not  believe,  and  believing  walk 
in  obedience  and  receive  eternal  life,  wherever  the  Gospel  is  to  bear 
out  this  testimony. 

But  the  stumbling-blocks  are  to  be  removed.  Another  of  which 
is,  that  to  believe  is  a  spiritual  act,  and  therefore  men  cannot  believe 
to  acceptance  until  they  become  in  some  measure  spiritual.  But  if 
we  attend  to  the  Apostle's  language,  and  the  place  which  faith  fills  in 
the  work  of  salvation,  this  argument  will  be  found  to  be  improper. 
"Now  faith  is  the  substance  [or  confidence]  of  things  hoped  for,  the 
evidence  [or  Greek,  conviction,  that  is,  the  fruit  of  the  evidence] 
of  things  not  seen.  For  by  it  the  elders  obtained  a  good  report. 
Through  faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds  were  framed  by  the 
word  of  God  ;  so  that  things  which  are  seen  were  not  made  of  things 
which  do  appear.  By  faith  Abel  offered  to  God  a  more  excellent 
sacrifice  than  Cain  ;  by  which  he  obtained  witness  that  he  was  righteous, 
God  testifying  of  his  gifts  :  and  by  it  he,  being  dead,  yet  speaketh, 
[Greek,  XaXsTrai,  is  spoken  of."  Heb.  xi.  1-4.]  Now  it  is  observable, 
that  it  is  the  same  faith  by  which  we  believe  that  God  created  the 
worlds  by  his  word,  and  by  which  Abel  off"ered  to  God  an  acceptable 
sacrifice,  and  obtained  witness  that  he  was  righteous.  And  the  same 
is  to  be  said  of  all  the  rest  of  the  champions  of  mighty  and  righteous 
works,  whom  the  Apostle  enumerates  :  it  was  the  same  faith  he  fii'st 
described,  the  confidence,  of  things  hoped  for,  the  conviction  of  things  not 
seen.  Now,  if  that  act  of  the  mind  by  which  we  believe  that  the 
worlds  were  framed  by  the  word  of  God,  can  be  the  act  of  the  natural 
man's  mind,  or  if  he  can  believe  that  God  created  the  worlds  by  the 
word  of  his  power,  and  yet  be  in  a  state  of  nature,  it  is  then  proved, 
that  a  natural  man  is  capable  of  that  faith  which  has  Christ  and  his 
salvation  as  its  object.  Or  if  a  natural  man  can  believe  that  Abel 
offered  a  more  excellent  sacrifice  than  Cain,  and  obtained  the  testi- 
mony of  God  in  his  favour,  so  that  he  is  spoken  of  after  he  is  dead, 
(for  by  the  faith  of  those  who  speak  of  him  he  is  spoken  of,  and  not 
by  his  own  faith  only,)  then  also  a  natural  man  can  believe,  that  is, 
be  convinced  of  the  truth,  that  God  is,  and  is  the  reicarder  of  them  that 
diligently  seek  him,  and  that  God  is  revealed  in  Christ,  and  Christ  in 
the  Gospel,  for  every  man  who  will  receive  him.  Faith,  therefore, 
is  no  more  a  spiritual  act  than  any  other  act  of  the  mind  ;  but  is 
properly  a  physical  act,  or  rather  the  effect  of  evidence  on  the  mind, 
and  hath  nothing  spiritual  in  it,  farther  than  as  its  objects  are  spiritual ; 
and  the  evidence  of  the  truth  of  such  spiritual  objects  is  rational, 
adapted  to  the  rational  powers  of  the  physical  man,  in  his  unrenewed 
state.  Unless  this  statement  be  admitted,  it  is  folly  in  the  exti-eme, 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  world  of  mankind,  who  are  wholly  lying 
in  the  wicked  one,  and  in  nature,  and  require  them  to  believe,  and 


OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  59 

then  charge  with  the  sin  of  unbelief  and  of  making  God  a  liar,  those 
who  do  not  believe  ;  for  the  poor  wretches  have  no  other  authority 
on  which  to  believe,  having  nothing  in  them  which  is  spiritual,  nor 
ever  can  have  until  they  actually  believe  and  obey  ;  they  may  then 
begin  to  know  the  truth  and  be  made  free.   (John  viii.  32.) 

But  the  principle  is  abundantly  justified  in  the  Scriptures  ;  that  the 
evidence  of  the  Gospel  is  adapted  to  the  mind  and  capacity  of  the 
physical  man  to  beget  or  produce  faith  in  him,  and,  therefore,  that 
the  unregenerate  man  is  capable  of  believing  in  order  to  his  justifica- 
tion and  the  receiving  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  "  That  he  might  be  just . 
and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus."  Here  is  faith  before 
justification.  "  But  to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  him 
that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness." 
Here  the  ungodly  is  justified  through  faith  ;  the  ungodly,  therefore, 
can  and  may  believe,  and  thus  be  saved  from  his  ungodliness.  "  There- 
fore, being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  by  whom  also  we  have  access  by  faith  into  this 
grace  wherein  we  stand."  (Rom.  iii.  26,  iv.  5,  and  v.  12.)  Thus  faith 
every  where  precedes  justification,  and  also  our  access  to  the  grace 
of  God  wherein  we  stand  ;  "  For  he  that  cometh  to  God  must  [first] 
believe  that  he  is."  Again  :  "  He  that  believeth  on  me,  as  the 
Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water. 
(But  this  spake  he  of  the  Spirit  which  they  that  believed  on  him 
should  receive.")  "  In  whom  ye  also  trusted,  afler  that  ye  heard  the 
word  of  truthj  the  Gospel  of  your  salvation  :  in  whom  also,  after  that  ye 
believed,  ye  were  sealed  with  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise."  (Jno.  vii. 
38,  39,  Eph.  i.  13.)  Thus  faith  is  explicitly  placed  before  receiving 
the  Spirit  of  promise,  or  that  Spirit  which  is  promised  in  Christ  to 
his  people,  and  is  the  medium  through  which  that  Spirit  is  received  ; 
"  That  we  might  receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  through  faith." 
(Gal.  iii.  14.)  Faith,  therefore,  or  believing,  is  no  spiritual  act; 
neither  is  there  any  thing  in  it  which  requires  a  man  to  be  spiritual 
before  he  can  believe  ;  but  it  is  the  unquestionable  privilege  of  all 
men  who  hear  the  Gospel  to  believe  and  obey,  that  they  may  be 
saved. 

People  often  object  to  the  notion  of  men's  believing  of  themselves, 
when  they  please,  and  the  like.  But  such  objections  only  show  the 
ignorance  and  willfulness  of  those  who  make  them.  We  are  not 
pleading  for  men  to  believe  of  themselves,  though  it  be  true  that 
each  one  must  believe  for  himself:  another  cannot  believe  for 
him.  Neither  are  we  pleading  for  any  to  believe  out  of  due  time  y 
we  only  insist  on  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  their  believing  the 
Gospel  on  the  authority  of  God,  when  they  hear  it.  I  have  before 
stated  that  motive  comes  to  the  man  from  without  him,  and  I  now 
state  that  evidence  and  authority  for  a  man  to  believe  the  Gospel  are 
not  of  himself,  they  are  from  God,  and  sent  to  him  by  that  Gospel 
which  is  of  God,  that  he  may  believe  and  be  saved.  "  So,  then,  faith 
Cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God."  (Rom.  x.  17.) 
"  And  this  is  the  word  which  by  the  Gospel  is  preached  to  you."  (1. 
Pet.  i.  25.)  Thus  men  are  required  to  believe,  not  on  their  own 
authority,  but  on  the  authority  of  the  word  of  God,  or  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  to  them  for  their  salvation.     "  For  after  that  in  the 


60  OF  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

wisdom  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God 
by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe."  (1  Cor. 
i.  21.) 

Men  cannot  believe  without  evidence  ;  those,  therefore,  who  have 
not  heard  the  Gospel,  neither  had  any  opportunity  of  hearing  it,  are 
not  expected  to  believe  it ;  people  are  only  required  to  observe  and 
do  the  duties  in  the  compass  of  their  knowledge  and  power.  "  For  to 
whom  much  is  given,  of  the  same  shall  much  be  required ;  and  to 
whom  little  is  given,  of  him  shall  little  be  required."  (Luke  xii.  48.) 
And  if  the  servant  who  knew  not  his  Lord's  will  and  did  not  perform 
it,  was  beaten,  it  was  only  with  few  stripes,  for  his  correction,  that  he 
might  be  stirred  up  to  know  his  duty  and  to  do  it ;  for  nothing  short 
of  knowing  the  will  of  God  and  doino;  it  can  ever  amount  to  salvation. 
But  where  the  Gospel  is  preached  men  have  no  such  excuse  to  plead, 
as  not  hearing  ;  they  may  all  hear,  for  the  sound  has  gone  forth  ;  and 
it  comes  with  such  evidence  as  can  be  resisted  by  perverseness  or  in- 
attention only,  and  such  power  as  authorizes  all  and  every  one  to 
know  and  believe. 

But  amidst  the  clearest  ministrations  people  may  remain  in  a  cri- 
minal degree  of  unbelief,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Jews.  They  did 
not  believe,  and  yet  were  guilty  in  rejecting  Christ,  whom  with  wicked 
h&nds  they  crucified  and  slew.  They  resisted  the  evidence  which  was 
spread  before  their  senses  ;  for  it  came  accompanied  by  a  doctrine  in 
many  things  different  from  their  law  ;  and  especially  contrary  to  their 
traditions  ;  but  most  of  all  contrary  to  their  carnal  nature,  their  pride 
and  their  lusts  ;  this  doctrine  was  of  the  necessity  of  denying  self  and 
bearing  the  cross,  at  which  they  stumbled.  And  their  prejudices  and 
perverse  wiU  ran  so  high,  that  they  would  not  give  the  subject  a  fair 
trial.  When  Jesus  had  raised  Lazarus,  they  perversely  rolled  the 
evidence  away,  saying,  "  What  do  we  }  for  this  man  doeth  many 
miracles.  If  we  let  him  thus  alone  all  men  will  believe  on  him." 
"  Then  from  that  day  forth  they  took  counsel  together  to  put  him  to 
death."  (John  xi.  47,  &c.)  And  soon  after,  "they  consulted  that 
they  might  put  Lazarus  also  to  death  ;  because  that  by  reason  of  him 
many  of  the  Jews  went  away  and  believed."  (Jno.  xii.  10,  11.) 
And  after  Peter  with  John  had  healed  the  lame  man  at  the  temple 
gate,  and  the  Jews  had  seen  the  effects  of  the  faith  of  Christ,  in  that 
instant,  so  clearly  that  they  had  no  method  to  conceal  it,  they  will- 
fully took  methods  to  prevent  the  knowledge  of  it  among  the  people, 
for,  "  they  conferred  among  themselves,  saying,  What  shall  we  do 
to  these  men  }  for  that  indeed  a  notable  miracle  hath  been  done  by 
them  is  manifest  to  all  them  that  dwell  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  we  cannot 
deny  it.  But,  that  it  spread  no  further  among  the  people,  let  us 
straitly  threaten  them,  that  they  speak  henceforth  to  no  man  in 
this  name.  And  they  called  them,  and  commanded  them  not  to 
speak  at  all,  nor  teach  in  the  name  of  Jesus."  (Acts  iv.  15,  &c.)  By 
such  ungenerous  methods  do  men  violate  their  own  judgment,  and 
evade  the  force  of  evidence.  Many,  when  they  hear  the  Gospel,  are 
eagle-eyed  enough  to  perceive  the  cross  very  soon,  and  keep  out  of 
the  way,  or  ward  off  the  conviction,  or  violate  their  own  faith,  just  be- 
cause the  Gospel  leads  to  a  life  of  self-denial  and  obedience  to  God, 
and  affect  to  be  uncertain  whether  it  is  the  true  Gospel  or  not,  when 


OP  THE  OFFERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  61 

the  real  difficulty  is  their  own  unwillingness  to  bear  the  cross  of  Christ, 
against  their  own  wills. 

The  Gospel  carries  its  own  evidence  with  it ;  its  terms  and  exhibi- 
tions being  so  open  and  manifest,  the  tidings  are  generous  and  fair, 
with  sufficient  authority  for  every  man's  faith.  When  I  say  the 
Gospel,  I  do  not  mean  any  thing  and  every  thing  which  is  called  Gos- 
pel among  men.  Nothing  is  worthy  of  that  name  except  that  which 
is  evidently  built  on  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  who  is  the  chief 
corner-stone — secures  the  unshaken  confidence  of  eternal  life  to  all 
without  exception,  who  keep  their  union  to  it — and  manifests  in  them 
all,  the  cross  of  Christ  and  his  righteousness,  visibly  to  all  men,  so 
that  all  men  can  know  them  to  be  his  disciples.  That  which  presents 
no  cross  against  the  carnal  nature,  leaving  men  to  pursue  their  sen- 
sual appetites,  without  being  plagued  with  the  self-denying  life  of 
Jesus  Christ,  can  readily  be  received  as  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  with 
liberal  faith,  although  it  affords  its  subjects  no  additional  certainty  of 
eternal  life.  "  I  am  come  in  my  Father's  name,  and  ye  receive  me 
not:  if  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  him  ye  will  receive." 
(Jno.  V.  43.) 

No  doubt  the  term  faith  or  believing  is  frequently  used  in  the 
Scriptures  in  a  more  extensive  sense  than  here  stated,  as  meaning  the 
whole  dispensation  of  the  Gospel,  some  special  miraculous  gift,  (1  Cor. 
xii.  9,)  the  Christian  temper  and  power,  or  even  the  whole  of  the 
Christian  life.  (1  Jno.  v.  1.)  Faith  also  is  a  law,  the  law  and  rule 
of  a  Christian's  life.  (Rom.  iii.  27.  and  1  Cor.  ix.  21.)  And  most  of 
these  senses,  and  perhaps  more,  are  included  in  that  faith  by  which  a 
man  is  finally  justified,  of  which  we  will  take  some  notice  hereafter. 
But  at  present  I  have  been  speaking  particularly  of  faith,  as  that  ope- 
ration by  which  a  man  first  consents  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and 
closes  in  with  the  proposals  on  the  authority  of  God.  This  may  be 
weak  at  first  and  somewhat  wavering ;  but  still  sufficient,  though  like 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  to  unite  the  man  to  the  work  of  God  and  to 
his  people,  that  he  may  increase  and  grow  up  into  all  things  in  Christ. 
Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye. 

This  is  faith  in  the  strict  and  peculiar  sense  of  the  term — convic- 
tion, or  the  consent  of  the  mind  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  on  proper 
evidence.  This  is  that  faith  which  embraces  the  calls  and  offers  of 
God  to  men  for  their  salvation,  by  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thereby  opens  the  way  for  them  to  enter  on  the  path  of  obedience, 
and  begin  to  receive  all  the  graces  of  the  Spirit.  This  is  that  faith  of 
which  every  man  is  capable  who  hears  the  testimony  of  the  Gospel 
opened,  and  will  surely  receive  unless  he  neglect  or  repel  the  evi- 
dence. For  every  man  hath  power  to  believe,  that  is,  he  is  capable 
of  being  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  the  method  of 
salvation  in  Christ,  on  the  testimony  of  God,  contained  in  the  Gospel. 
But  it  will  be  objected  that  simply  this  consent  of  the  mind  to  Gos- 
pel truth  is  not  sufficient  for  justification  and  salvation,  for  many  are 
established  in  this  truth  in  their  mind  who  know  nothing  of  justifica- 
tion, regeneration  or  salvation.  True  enough ;  neither  are  any 
justified,  regenerated  or  saved  simply  by  faith  ;  obedience  or  a  con- 
tinuance in  the  word  of  God  which  they  have  heard  and  believed,  is 
necessary.     "  Blessed  are  they  who  hear  the  word  of  God  and  keep 


62  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

it."  (Luke  xi.  28.)  "  Tlien  said  Jesus  to  those  Jews  wlio  believed 
on  him,  If  ye  continue  in  my  word  then  are  ye  my  disciples  indeed  ; 
and  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 
(Jno.  viii.  31,  32.)  They  were  not  yet  free,  although  they  believed 
on  him  ;  neither  did  he  intimato  any  need  to  receive  any  other  kind 
of  faith,  or  to  hear  any  other  word  ;  all  they  needed  was  to  continue 
in  the  use  of  what  they  had  received,  and  they  should  know  the  truth 
by  experimental  acquaintance,  and  be  made  free. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

OF  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH  AND  OBEDIENCE,   AND  OF  IMPUTATION. 

As  we  are  advancing  into  the  discussion  of  the  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation, it  is  expedient  to  advertise  the  reader  of  the  order  and  lead- 
ing principles  which  are  stated  and  supported  ;  that  he  may  have  his 
mind  prepared  for  the  reception  of  what  is  written,  and  may  under- 
stand it  with  more  ease.  Justification  is  a  subject  of  the  utmost  con- 
sequence in  the  life  of  a  Christian,  and  ought  to  be  correctly  under- 
stood. Justification  is  found  in  Christ  alone  ;  the  author  [or  first 
leader]  and  finisher  [or  perfecter]  of  faith  ;  who  first  introduced  the 
faith  of  the  Gospel,  first  put  it  into  practice,  and  first  received  the  end 
of  faith,  the  crown  of  righteousness.  The  foundation  work  of  justifi- 
cation is  from  God  alone,  in  the  gift  of  his  Son.  This  is  a  work  of 
the  grace  of  God,  absolutely  free,  an  emanation  of  his  own  eminently 
free  love  ;  unmoved  by  any  goodness  or  worthiness,  any  request  or 
desire  in  mankind  towards  God,  or  any  thing  exterior  to  himself,  only 
that  he  fixed  it  on  the  fallen  race  who  were  in  need.  Accordingly  as 
God  freely  gave  his  Son  to  be  our  Redeemer,  and  the  foundation  of 
our  justification,  he  also  gave  with  him,  the  Gospel  of  salvation,  to  be 
preached  to  all  nations  for  their  faith  and  obedience.  "-Sy  whom  ive 
have  received  grace  and  apostleship,  for  the  obedience  offaith^  among  all 
nations,  in  the  behalf  of  his  name.''^  "He  that  spared  not  his  own 
Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him 
also  freely  give  us  all  things  .?"     (Rom.  i.  5.  Greek  and  viii.  32.) 

The  first  and  radical  ground,  therefore,  is  Jesus  Christ  the  crucified 
man,  as  he  is  exhibited  in  the  Gospel :  He  is  the  foundation  which 
God  hath  laid  in  Zion.  "  Wherefore  also  it  is  contained  in  the 
Scripture,  Behold,  I  lay  in  Zion  a  chief  corner-stone,  elect,  precious  ; 
and  he  that  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  confounded."  "Fori 
determine  not  to  know  any  thing  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ  and 
him  crucified,"  as  the  proper  foundation  of  their  faith,  who  were  to 
be  crucified  with  him.  And  again  ;  "  Who  hath  bewitched  you,  that 
ye  should  not  obey  the  truth,  before  whose  eyes  Jesus  Christ  hath 
been  evidently  set  forth  crucified  among  you  .''"  (1  Pet.  ii.  6,  1 
Cor.  ii.*2.  Gal.  iv.  1.)  The  second  or  mediate  ground  of  justifica- 
tion is  faith  in  Christ,  or  in  God,  or  in  his  Son.      "  Being  therefore 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  63 

justified  by  faitli,  we  have  peace  with  God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  "  But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him  ;  for  he 
that  Cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  the  re- 
warder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him."  Therefore  thirdly, 
The  proximate  and  finishing  ground,  or  cause,  of  justification,  as 
the  fruit  of  the  two  former,  in  perfection,  is  obedience.  Obedience  is 
the  crowning  point  in  justification,  and  in  the  whole  of  salvation.  And 
the  faith  of  Christians  is  that  which  worketh  by  love,  and  by  works 
is  made  perfect.  "  Wfio  hath  bewitched  you,  that  ye  should  not  obey 
the  truth  f''''  And  the  intention  of  the  Gospel,  from  first  to  last,  is,  to 
bring  mankind  to  obedience,  ei;en  the  obedience  of  faith ;  as  will  be 
opened  in  the  sequel. 

Thus  the  work  of  the  Gospel  for  our  salvation  is  built  on  the  free 
grace  of  God  which  runs  through  the  whole  plan  from  first  to  last, 
and  is  the  grand  foundation  and  support  of  the  whole  building.  Had 
he  not  given  his  Son,  we  could  never  have  believed  on  him,  and  had 
we  not  believed,  we  could  never  have  obeyed.  Accordingly,  the 
ground  of  our  justification  is  three-fold.  First,  Christ  the  gift  of 
God ;  secondly,  our  own  faith,  or  believing  in  him  ;  and  thirdly,  our 
own  correct  obedience  to  that  faith.  For  notwithstanding  all  that 
God  hath  done  for  our  salvation,  our  benefit  depends  finally  on  the 
reception  we  give  the  Saviour  whom  he  hath  provided,  and  the  obe- 
dience which  we  yield  to  him.  To  the  obedient,  and  none  else  ;  to 
them  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek  for  glory  and 
honor  and  immortality,  God  will  render  eternal  life.  Therefore, 
"  Let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset 
us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking 
to  Jesus  [tov  t^j  'KidTSug  app(;y]yov  xaj  rsXsiwTigv]  the  first  leader  and  per- 
fecter  of  faith  ;"  both  his  and  ours. 

That  JUSTIFICATION  and  final  salvation  are  attained  by  the  faith  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ,  is  acknowledged  by  those  who  bear  the  name 
of  Christ.  Accordingly  we  read  of  being  justified  by  faith  and 
through  faith.  "  Seeing  it  is  one  God  who  shall  justify  the  circum- 
cision by  faith,  and  the  uncircumcision  through  faith."  (Rom.  iii.  30.) 
But  it  is  also  as  certain  that  justification  and  salvation  are  not  attained 
simply  by  believing,  or  by  faith  only.  For  although  faith  is  a  sine  quo. 
non  in  the  terms  of  our  acceptance  with  God,  for  "  without  faith  it  is 
impossible  to  please  him ;"  yet  it  is  certain  that  without  obedience 
also,  itis  impossible  to  please  him  ;  accordingly  we  may  see  the  grounds 
of  our  justification  in  the  words  of  inspiration  from  God.  "  Who 
will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds ;  to  them  who  by 
patient  continuing  in  well-doing,  seek  for  glory  and  honour  and  im- 
mortality, eternal  life  ;  but  to  them  that  are  contentious,  and  do  not 
obey  the  truth  but  obey  unrighteousness,  indignation  and  wrath,  tri- 
bulation and  anguish,  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil  ;  of  the 
Jew|  first,  and  also  of  the  Gentile ;  but  glory,  honour  and  peace  to 
every  man  that  worketh  good  ;  to  the  Jew  first  and  also  to  the  Gen- 
tile ;  for  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  God."  (Rom.  ii.  6-11.) 
"  But  to  do  good  and  to  communicate  forget  not ;  for  with  such  sacri- 
fices God  is  well  pleased."  (Heb.  xiii.  16.)  "  Not  every  one  who 
saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven; 
but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  (Matt. 


64  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

vii.  21.)  "  And  being  made  perfect,  lie  became  tbe  author  of  eternal 
salvation  to  all  tbem  that  obey  him."  (Heb.  v.  9.)  "  If  ye  know 
these  things  happy  are  ye  if  ye  do  them."  "  If  ye  keep  my  com- 
mandments ye  shall  abide  in  my  love  ;  even  as  I  have  kept  my  Fa- 
ther's commandments  and  abide  in  his  love."  (Jno.  xiii.  17,  and  xv. 
10.)  "  And  whatsoever  we  ask  we  receive  of  him,  because  we  keep 
his  commandments,  and  do  those  things  which  are  pleasing  in  his 
sight."  (1.  Jno.  iii.  22.)  "  Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  command- 
ments, that  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in 
through  the  gates  into  the  city."     (Rev.  xxii.   14.) 

These  are  a  few  out  of  many  passages  of  Scripture  which  show 
in  plain  terms  that  our  acceptance  with  God  depends  as  much  on 
obedience  as  faith,  not  to  say  much  more,  because  there  may  be  faith 
without  obedience,  but  not  obedience  without  faith.  Therefore  all 
who  have  obedience  are  justified  ;  but  not  any  who  have  faith  with- 
out obedience.  And  after  all  which  the  Apostle  hath  written  of  the 
necessity  of  faith,  and  of  being  justified  by  faith,  it  is  remarkable  that 
he  hath  never  said.  By  faith  alone.  But  the  apostle  James  hath 
brought  the  matter  out  in  plain  terms  ;  that  justification  6^ /ai/A  with- 
out works  is  altogether  a  false  notion,  and  counts  faith  without  works 
no  more  towards  justification  than  the  body  without  the  spirit  towards 
a  living  man.  As  therefore  the  spirit  is  the  substance  and  source  of 
life  to  the  man,  so  is  obedience,  or  works,  the  true  source  and  ground 
of  justification.  The  Apostle's  words  are  so  clear  and  argumentative 
that  they  appear  sufl5.cient  to  satisfy  and  convince  any  unbiassed  mind. 
"  What  doth  it  profit,  my  brethren,  though  a  man  say  he  hath  faith, 
and  have  not  works  ?  can  faith  save  him  ?  If  a  brother  or  sister  be 
naked  and  destitute  of  daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them, 
Depart  in  peace,  be  ye  warmed  and  filled ;  notwithstanding  ye  give 
them  not  those  things  which  are  needful  to  the  body,  what  doth  it 
profit }  Even  so  faith,  if  it  hath  not  works,  is  dead,  being  alone. 
Yea,  a  man  may  say,  Thou  hast  faith  and  I  have  works  :  show  me 
thy  faith  without  thy  works,''''  if  thou  canst ;  or,  as  the  generality  of 
Greek  copies  read  :  "  Show  me  thy  faith  by  thy  works,'''  if  thou 
hast  any,  for  no  evidence  short  of  this  will  do,  "  and  I  will  show  thee 
my  faith  hy  my  works.  Thou  believest  that  there  is  one  God  ;  thou 
doest  well :  the  devils  also  believe  and  tremble.  But  wilt  thou  know, 
O  vain  man !  that  faith  [if  thou  hast  it]  without  works  is  dead  } 
Was  not  Abraham  our  father  justified  by  loorks,  when  he  had  olFered 
Isaac  his  son  upon  the  altar }  Seest  thou  how  faith  wrought  with  his 
works,  and  by  works  was  faith  made  perfect  ?  And  the  Scripture  was 
fulfilled,  which  saith,  Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  was  imputed  to 
him  for  righteousness  :  and  he  was  called  the  friend  of  God.  Ye  see, 
then,  how  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only. 
Likewise,  also,  was  not  Rahab  the  harlot  justified  by  works,  when  she 
had  received  the  messengers,  and  had  sent  them  out  another  ■yay  .'' 
For  as  the  body  without  the  spirit  is  dead,  so  faith  without  works  is 
dead  also.'''' 

It  has  been  argued  that  the  justification  of  which  James  speaks,  is 
only  the  evidence  or  justification  of  a  man's  faith.  But  the  Spirit 
by  the  Apostle  saith,  it  is  the  man  who  is  justified  ;  and  that  is  more 
to  those  who  are  governed  by  revelation,  than  the  sayings  of  a  thou- 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  65 

sand  to  the  contrary.  And  however  true,  which  is  not  to  he  disputed, 
that  Abraham  was  justified  by  faith,  it  is  so  far  from  being  by  faith 
alone,  that  all  things  pertaining  to  the  whole  matter,  as  well  as  the 
Apostle's  testimony,  show,  that  without  obedience  he  had  not  received 
a  particle  of  justification.  Touching  the  ofi'ering  of  his  son  Isaac,  it 
is  plain  enough,  that  his  justification  before  God,  and  his  securing  the 
blessing  to  himself  and  his  posterity,  rested  in  his  obedience  ;  as  it  is 
written,  "For  now  I  know  that  thou  fearest  God,  seeing  thou  hast 
not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  from  me."  "  By  myself  have  I 
sworn,  saith  the  Lord,  that  because  thou  hast  done  this  thing,  and 
hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  that  in  blessing  I  will  bless 
thee,  and  in  multiplying  I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven, 
and  as  the  sand  which  is  upon  the  sea-shore  ;  and  thy  seed  shall 
possess  the  gate  of  his  enemies,  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  be  blessed,  because  thou  hast  obeyed  my  voice.''''  (Gen. 
xxii.  12,  &c.)  And  in  this  act  of  obedience,  according  to  the  words 
of  James  as  quoted  above,  "  The  Scripture  was  fulfilled  which  saith, 
Abraham  believed  God  and  it  was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness^  and 
he  was  called  the  friend  of  God."  But  all  this  will  not  disannul  or 
pervert  the  doctrine  that  Abraham  was  justified  by  faith,  for  his  faith 
was  the  source  and  spring  of  his  obedience,  and  without  believing  he 
had  not  obeyed.  As  it  is  again  written;  "By  faith  Abraham,  when 
he  was  tried,  offered  up  Isaac  ;  and  he  that  had  received  the  promises 
offered  up  his  only  begotten  son,  of  whom  it  was  said.  That  in  Isaac 
shall  thy  seed  be  called  :  accounting  that  God  was  able  to  raise  him 
up,  even  from  the  dead."  (Heb.  xi.  17,  &c.)  But  Abraham  was  not 
justified  by  faith  without  obedience ;  for  he  was  justified  by  works, 
while  his  faith  wrought  by  works,  and  by  works  was  faith  made  perfect. 
Obedience  therefore,  even  the  obedience  of  faith,  is  the  proximate, 
finishing  and  perfecting  cause  of  every  man's  justification. 

And  with  respect  to  the  promise  of  a  seed  by  Sarah,  of  which  it  is 
said,  "Abraham  believed  God  and  it  was  counted  to  him  for  righteous- 
ness," (Rom.  iv.  3,)  it  is  to  be  observed,  he  did  all  that  was  for  him  to 
do  in  the  case,  and  when  he  was  told  to  do  more  he  obeyed.  He  in 
the  first  instance  offered  a  variety  of  animals  in  sacrifice,  as  God  bade 
him,  and  afterwards  when  the  promise  was  renewed,  at  the  command 
of  God,  he  circumcised  himself  and  all  the  males  in  his  house.  And 
that  was  the  time  of  which  the  Apostle  speaks  with  so  much  energy  of 
Abraham's  faith,  that  "  Being  not  weak  in  faith,  he  considered  not 
his  own  body  now  dead,  when  he  was  about  an  hundred  years  old, 
[for  at  the  time  of  the  first  promise  he  was  not  of  that  age]  neither 
yet  the  deadness  of  Sarah's  womb :  he  staggered  not  at  the  promise 
of  God,  through  unbelief ;  but  was  strong  in  the  faith,  giving  glory  to 
God  ;  and  being  fully  persuaded  that  what  he  had  promised  he  was 
able  also  to  perform.  And  therefore  it  was  imputed  to  him  for 
righteousness."  (ver.  19,  22.)  This  was  that  faith  which  was  accom- 
panied with  such  manifest  fruits  of  obedience  as  stated  above.  To 
believe  God  is  to  do  well,  and  unquestionably  a  righteous  matter,  and 
justly  imputed  for  righteousness,  when  the  spirit  of  obedience  is  in- 
cluded, as  shown,  in  its  place  ;  but  without  obedience  justification  can 
never  be  perfected  in  any  one.  The  known  truth  is  that  Abraham 
.  was  a  righteous  man  in  his  day  and  time,  before  any  of  these  things 
6 


661  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

were  said  of  him.  He  believed  God  and  obeyed  Mm,  from  tbe  time 
that  God  called  him  saying,  "  Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from 
thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house  ;  for  by  faith  Abraham, 
when  he  was  called  to  go  out  into  a  place  which  he  should  after 
receive  for  an  inheritance,  obeyed ;  and  he  went  out  not  knowing 
whither  he  went."  (Gen.  xii.  1 ;  Heb.  xi.  8.)  Thus  Abraham  obeyed 
and  forsook  his  father's  house,  for  the  promise  of  God  which  was  far 
off ;  a  work  which  few  in  our  days  are  willing  to  do  for  the  substance 
when  it  has  actually  come.  No  wonder,  then,  that  such  a  man's 
faith  was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness,  when  it  was  so  firm  and 
always  accompanied  with  obedience.  It  was  therefore  imputed  to 
him  for  righteousness,  to  serve  the  purpose  in  his  day,  until  the  day 
of  perfect  righteousness  should  come. 

"But  if  Abraham  were  justified  by  works  he  hath  whereof  to 
glory,  but  not  before  God."  And  though  he  hath  not  whereof  to 
glory  before  God,  that  is  not  to  prevent  him  from  having  the  justifica- 
tion and  approbation  of  his  own  conscience,  and  that,  too,  on  such 
terms  as  God  acknowledges  and  approves.  For  if  our  heart  con- 
demn us  not,  then  have  we  confidence  towards  God  ;  even  though 
we  have  no  cause  of  boasting  before  him,  we  may  be  justified  and 
accepted.  Or  will  God  reject  a  man  and  condemn  him  for  doing  his 
duty.''  "Now  to  him  that  worketh  is  the  reward  not  reckoned  of 
grace,  but  of  debt."  This  is  the  common  order  of  works  and  rewards 
among  men.  Besides,  no  work  of  men,  either  professed  or  performed, 
engaged  God  to  show  mercy  to  the  fallen  race  of  men,  either  to  Abra- 
ham as  the  father  of  the  faithful,  or  to  any  of  his  children.  All  this 
is  of  his  free  grace,  according  to  his  own  nature  of  love.  "Not  by 
works  of  righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his 
mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."  (Tit.  iii.  5.)  But  query;  Is  the  Apostle  to  be 
understood  that  the  Jews  and  others  before  them,  who  did  the  works 
which  God  commanded  them,  earned  a  reward  of  debt,  or  that  God 
owed  them  any  thing  for  their  services  }  Or  did  they  not,  under  the 
whole  dispensation  of  the  law,  receive  every  blessing  by  promise  } 
For  if  God  gave  the  inheritance  to  Abraham  by  promise,  as  the  Apostle 
asserts,  (Gal.  iii.  18,)  his  family  must  have  received  it  by  the  same, 
as  far  as  they  had  it  at  all.  Accordingly  they  pleaded,  from  time  to 
time,  the  promise  of  God  made  to  their  father  Abraham.  "But  to 
him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  him  that  justifieth  the  un- 
godly, his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness."  To  him  that  worketh 
not.  Query :  Is  it  to  him  who  yields  not  obedience  to  the  truths 
which  he  believes,  that  his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness  .''  or  to 
him  who  has  the  faith  of  his  father  Abraham  and  walks  in  the  steps 
of  that  faith,  which  always  led  him  to  the  most  punctual  obedience  1 
or  in  other  words,  as  it  now  pertains  to  the  Gospel,  who  has  the  faith 
of  Jesus  Christ,  who  always  did  the  things  which  pleased  the  Father  } 
For  "  it  was  not  written  for  his  sake  alone,  that  it  was  imputed  to 
him  ;  but  for  us  also,  to  whom  it  shall  be  imputed,  if  we  believe  on 
him  that  raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead." 

What  works  then  were  these  which  are  excluded  from  justifica- 
tion .''  The  ceremonial  works  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  all  such  ;  which 
axe  dead  works,  beggarly  elements,  and  have  no  tendency  to  justify 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  67 

the  spirit  or  to  purify  the  conscience.  "  For  it  is  not  possible  that 
the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away  sins."  (Heb.  x.  4.) 
But  when  David  also  describeth  the  blessedness  of  the  man  to  whom 
the  Lord  will  not  impute  sin,  he  includes  the  real  character  of  the 
man,  saying,  "Blessed  is  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord  imputeth  not 
iniquity,  and  in  whose  spirit  there  is  no  guile."  (Psa.  xxxii.  2.)  It  is 
therefore  evident  that  David  knew  nothing  of  justification  without 
obedience,  as  all  his  writings  show ;  and  it  is  also  certain  that  Paul 
was  too  well  acquainted  with  the  spirit  of  David  to  apprehend  that 
he  expected  any  such  matter ;  but  when  he  would  cut  off  the  Jewish 
Christians  at  Rome,  and  elsewhere,  from  their  rooted  attachment  to 
their  legal  works,  he  wisely  omitted  the  honesty  of  the  man's  spirit, 
or  his  obedient  character,  which  in  David's  day  was  founded  in  cere- 
monial observances,  and  only  mentions  his  sins  being  covered  and 
not  imputed.  "  Even  as  David  also  describeth  the  blessedness  of  the 
man  to  whom  God  imputeth  righteousness  without  works,  saying: 
Blessed  are  they  whose  iniquities  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  are 
covered.  Blessed  is  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord  will  not  impute  sin." 
Now  David  had  not  named  works  as  a  part  of  the  character  which  he , 
described,  but  the  integrity  of  the  spirit.  The  man  then  to  whom 
iniquity  is  not  imputed,  when  viewed  in  his  whole  character,  is  he  who 
has  none  ;  the  sins  which  he  has  heretofore  committed  being  forgiven 
when  covered  according  to  the  order  of  the  dispensation  in  which  he 
lives  ;  which  was  done  under  the  law  by  confessing  and  making  a  sin- 
offering  in  the  appointed  order,  and  in  the  Gospel  by  confessing,  for- 
saking and  presenting  the  whole  man  a  living  sacrifice  to  God,  being 
baptized  into  the  death  of  Christ,  to  die  to  sin  and  live  to  God  after 
his  example. 

And  whenever  the  Apostle  excludes  works  from  any  part  in  justifi- 
cation, or  the  works  of  the  law,  as  expressly  named  in  different  places, 
it  is  sufl&ciently  clear  that  he  has  respect  to  those  ceremonial  observ- 
ances, and  not  to  any  moral  duty,  or  any  act  of  obedience  required  in 
the  Gospel  dispensation ;  for,  as  before  shown,  these  have  their  full 
weight  in  our  acceptance  with  God.  But  there  is  no  principle  on 
which  the  spirit  and  practice  of  obedience  to  the  law  of  God,  can  be 
excluded  from  our  justification,  without  overturning  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles.  For  Christ  came  not  to  destroy  the  law  or 
the  prophets,  but  to  fulfill ;  and  the  true  righteousness  of  every  Chris- 
tian, is  the  righteousness  of  the  law  fulfilled  in  him,  in  obedience  to 
the  faith  or  law  of  Christ.  So  that,  although,  as  Christ  Jesus  fulfill- 
ed the  ceremonial  observances  of  the  law,  he  disannulled  them,  as  that 
which  is  old  and  ready  to  vanish  away,  he  kept  the  law  in  the  spirit 
and  substance,  in  a  manner  which  could  not  have  been  effected  by  the 
old  dispensation,  and  thus  became,  in  truth,  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  those  who  believe  in  him.  "  There  is  therefore  now 
no  condemnation  to  them  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after 
the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death:  for  God, 
sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  on  account  of 
sin"  [to  do  it  away,  or  as  a  sin-offering,  if  any  prefer  that  reading,] 
for  in  that  also  he  was  our  example,  and  so  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh, 
that  which  was  impossible  "  for  the  law,  [to  do,]  in  that  it  was  weak 


68  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

througli  the  flesh,  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in 
us  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh  bid  after  the  Spirit.  (Rom.  viii.  1-5.) 
Notwithstanding,  therefore,  that  the  external  form  of  the  administra- 
tion of  the  law  may  he  changed,  as  divine  wisdom  hath  seen  it  best, 
the  true  spirit  of  the  law  and  its  fulfillment  remain  for  Christians  as 
much  as  for  any  people,  and  never  were  truly  kept  by  any  until  Christ 
came.  "  Do  we  then  make  void  the  law  through  faith  }  God  forbid  : 
yea, we  establish  the  law."  (Rom.iii.  31.)  Andhowisthe  law  estab- 
lished, but  by  maintaining  and  doing  the  things  contained  in  it,  with 
unshaken  faith  in  them  and  obedience  to  them  ?  or  by  finding  and 
keeping  that  substance  of  which  the  old  law  was  a  shadow.'' 
\  •  '*'  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great 
commandment.  And  the  second  is  like  unto  it :  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  hang  ail 
the  law  and  the  prophets."  (Matt.  xxii.  37-40.)  "For  he  that 
loveth  another  hath  fulfilled  the  law.  For  this,  Thou  shalt  not  com- 
mit adultery.  Thou  shalt  not  kill,  Thou  shalt  not  steal.  Thou  shalt 
not  bear  false  witness.  Thou  shalt  not  covet;  and  if  there  be  any 
other  commandment  it  is  briefly  comprehended  in  this  saying, 
namely.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  Love  worketh  no 
ill  to  his  neighbour  :  therefore  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."  (Rom. 
xiii.  8,  &c.)  "  For  all  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this. 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  (Gal.  v.  14.)  "  Now  the 
end  of  the  commandment  is  charity,  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a 
good  conscience,  and  of  faith  unfeigned."  (Tim.  i.  5.)  "And 
whatsoever  we  ask  we  receive  of  him,  because  we  keep  his  com- 
mandments, and  do  those  things  which  are  pleasing  in  his  sight. 
And  this  is  his  commandment.  That  we  should  believe  on  the  name 
of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  one  another  as  he  gave  us  com- 
mandment." (1.  Jno.  iii.  22,23.)  These  Scriptures  are  sufficient 
to  show  that  the  true  spirit  and  obedience  of  the  law  remain  unalter- 
able, and  that  when  the  apostle  excluded  the  law  and  the  works  of  the 
law  from  any  part  in  our  justification  and  salvation  ;  he  intends  the 
external,  or  ceremonial  law,  of  meats  and  drinks  and  divers  washings 
and  carnal  ordinances  [or  justifications  of  the  flesh.]  "  Therefore  by 
the  deeds  of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight ; 
for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin,"  and  again,  "  Therefore  we 
conclude  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  law." 
And,  as  if  to  show  that  he  intended  precisely  that  law  which  was  a 
separating  wall  between  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  he  adds  :  "  Is  he  the 
God  of  the  Jews  only  ?  is  he  not  also  of  the  Gentiles .''  Yes,  of  the 
Gentiles  also  :  seeing  it  is  one  God  who  shall  justify  the  circumcision 
by  faith  and  the  uncircumcision  through  faith.  Do  we  then  make  void 
the  law  through  faith?  God  forbid:  Yea,  we  establish  the  law." 
Those  ceremonies  indeed  could  not  take  away  sin,  "  w^hich  were  a 
slae-dow  of  things  to  come  ;  but  the  body  [or  substance]  is  of  Christ." 
(See  Rom.  iii.  20,  28-31.    Col.  ii.  17.) 

But  after  all  the  great  change  which  was  made,  which  was  indeed 
o-reat,  from  the  shadow  to  the  substance,  Christians  are  not  left  with- 
out law,  even  the  same  eternal  law  of  love  ;  "Being  not  without  law 
to  God  but  under  the  law  to  Christ.   (1.  Cor.  ix.  21.)     "Now  where 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  69 

no  law  is  there  is  no  transgression ;  for  sin  is  the  transgression  of  the 
law  ;"  if,  therefore,  the  law  doth  not  remain  in  full  force,  after  the 
abolishing  of  the  Jewish  ritual,  no  sin  could  be  committed.  But  it  is 
true  of  those  who  have  received  the  Christian  faith  as  well  as  others, 
that  "  whosoever  committeth  sin  transgresseth  also  the  law  ;  for  sin 
is  the  transgression  of  the  law."  (1  Jno.  iii.  4.)  But  the  necessity  of  a 
change  from  the  shadow  to  the  substance  was  indispensable  ;  for  as  it 
then  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Levitical  priesthood,  it  made  nothing  per- 
fect, there  was  by  it  no  salvation,  and  the  best  they  could  do  was  to 
look  forward  to  something  to  come,  depending  on  the  promises.  For 
had  not  this  been  the  case  there  had  been  no  need  for  Christ  to  have 
come  in  another  order  of  priesthood  ;  as  saith  the  Apostle,  "  If  there- 
fore perfection  were  by  the  Levitical  priesthood,  (for  under  it  the  people 
received  the  law,)  what  further  need  was  there  that  another  priest  should 
arise  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  and  not  be  called  after  the  order  of 
Aaron  .''  For  the  priesthood  being  changed  f(X£raT(^£(Xs'v7)f,  transposed] 
there  is  made  of  necessity  a  change  ("(j^tTa^scri^,  transpositionj  also  in 
[of]  the  law."  (Heb.  vii.  11,  12.)  Thus  the  law  was  transferred  from 
Aaron  to  Jesus  Christ ;  and  in  him  the  substance  appears,  the  law  is 
perfectly  kept  and  the  promises  fulfilled,  and  they  who  were  excluded 
from  salvation  and  the  inheritance  of  the  promise  for  the  time  being, 
may  come  forward  and  receive  the  promise.  For  the  law  gave  no  in- 
heritance ;  although  it  bore  witness  to  the  promise  which  was  made  long 
before,  and  the  righteousness  of  God  for  justification,  and  served  as  a 
shadow  of  good  things  until  the  substance  should  come,  even  Christ,  in 
whom  the  promise  is  fulfilled  to  all  who  believe  in  him  v/ith  obedience, 
who  walic'not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit.  "^  For  if  the  inherit- 
ance be  of  the  law,  it  is  no  more  of  promise  ;  but  God  gave  it  to  Abra- 
ham by  promise.  Wherefore  then  serveth  the  law  ?  it  was  added  be- 
cause of  transgressions,  till  the  seed  should  come  to  whom  the  promise 
was  made  ;  and  it  was  ordained  by  angels  in  the  hand  of  a  Mediator. 
Now  a  Mediator  is  not  a  Mediator  of  one  ;  but  God  is  one.  Is  the 
law  then  against  the  promises  of  God.  God  forbid  ;  for  if  there  had 
been  a  law  given  which  could  have  given  life,  verily  righteousness 
should  have  been  by  the  law.  But  the  Scripture  hath  concluded  all 
under  sin,  that  the  promise  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  might  be  given 
to  them  that  believed.  But  before  faith  came  we  were  kept  under 
the  law,  shut  up  to  the  faith  which  should  afterwards  be  revealed. 
Wherefore  the  law  was  our  schoolmaster  pointing  to  Christ,  that  we 
might  be  justified  by  faith.  But  after  that  faith  is  come  we  are  no 
longer  under  a  schoolmaster.  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of 
God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus."  "  But  now  without  the  law,  the  right- 
eousness of  God  is  manifested,  being  witnessed  by  the  law  and  the 
prophets  ;  even  the  righteousness  of  God  through  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ,  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe."  (Gal.  iii.  18-26  ; 
Rom.  iii.  21,22  ) 

If  therefore  we  find  the  Apostle  speaking  of  "  knowledge  that  a  man 
is  not  justified  by  the  works  of  the  law,  but  by  for  Greek,  except 
through]  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,"  (Gal.  ii.  16,)  we  may  readily 
understand  what  those  rejected  works  are,  and  what  is  that  faith  of 
Christ  through  which  a  man  is  justified  ;  that  which  acknowledges 
Christ  Jesus  as  an  example  and   a  leader,  and  follows  him,  yielding 


70  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

punctual  obedience  to  him  in  all  things,  and  finds  justification  to  the 
soul  in  so  doing  ;  not  in  yielding  obedience  to  a  law  of  ceremonial  and 
carnal  commandments  which  have  no  part  in  Christ,  but  the  law  of 
faith,  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  in  walking  not 
after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit. 

From  this  view  of  matters  we  may  learn  what  is  to  become  of  the 
doctrine  of  imputation,  or  the  justification  of  one  by  the  righteousness 
of  another.  It  is  indeed  remarkable  that  such  a  multitude  of  people 
should  so  strenuously  adhere  to  such  a  doctrine  as  that  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  being  imputed  to  them  for  their  justification  when  no 
such  fact  is  proved,  or  even  once  named,  in  the  Scriptures  which  they 
claim  as  the  rule  of  their  faith  and  practice.  And  though  it  is  never 
once  named  in  the  revelation  of  God,  they  maintain  that  the  only 
ground  of  any  man's  justification  and  acceptance  with  God  is  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ  imputed  to  him.  But  they  say  it  is  a  fair  and  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  what  the  Scriptures  plainly  teach.  Although 
the  phrase,  righteousness  of  Christy  is  not  found  at  all  in  the  Scriptures, 
I  have  no  objection  against  the  phrase,  provided  it  be  understood  and 
used  according  to  the  law  of  the  faith  of  Christ.  But  it  must  appear 
very  remarkable  that  God  should  build,  or  rather  be  said  to  build,  so 
great  a  work  as  the  justification  of  all  his  people,  on  a  ground  which 
he  hath  never  once  explicitly  taught,  or  even  named. 

But  it  is  said  the  righteousness  of  God  is  named,  that  Christ  is 
God,  and  that  which  is  imputed  to  those  who  believe,  for  their  jus- 
tification, is  the  righteousness  of  God  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  I  have 
no  objection  to  offer  against  the  righteousness  of  God  being  the 
righteousness  of  Christ,  and  also  being  the  righteousness  of  his  peo- 
ple, by  which  they  are  justified.  But  unhappily  for  that  cause,  the 
righteousness  of  God  is  never,  in  revelation,  said  to  be  imputed  to  any 
man  or  any  order  of  people,  for  their  justification,  or  for  any  thing 
else.  And  on  what  principle  can  any  man  be  benefited  by  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  unless  he  possess  it  in  reality  and  not  by  impu- 
tation, and  then  the  character  will  appear  in  proper  colours;  accord- 
ing to  the  teaching  of  the  beloved  apostle  John,  (1  Epist.  iii.  7.) 
"He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous,  even  as  he  is  righteous,"  on 
the  very  same  principle.  And  when  Paul  speaks  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  without  the  law  being  manifested,  which  was  witnessed 
by  the  law  and  the  prophets,  even  the  righteousness  of  God  by  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  to,  and  upon  all  them  that  believe  ;  (Rom.  iii.  21, 
22  ;)  it  is  shown  or  manifested  to  them  and  seen  upon  them.  Now 
what  righteousness  can  be  seen  or  manifested  upon  believers  ?  the 
imputed  righteousness  of  Christ,  or  their  own  obedience  ?  Some 
may  say  it  is  their  own  obedience  as  a  proof  of  the  imputed  right- 
eousness of  Christ.  But  how  is  this  to  be  proved  .'  the  Apostle  saith 
it  is  the  righteousness  of  God,  through  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
very  same  righteousness  manifested  to  them  and  upon  them  all.  The 
natural  construction  is,  that  having  received  the  faith  of  Christ  they 
obeyed  as  he  did.  And  what  is  the  righteousness  which  was  witness- 
ed by  the  law  and  the  prophets  .?  It  is  said  to  be  by  faith  ;  and  no 
doubt;  as  one  of  the  prophets  hath  it,  that  "the  just  shall  live  by 
faith,"  and  he  is  truly  a  just  man  who  hath  a  good  faith  and  obeyeth 
it.     He  shall  live.     But  the  righteousness  witnessed  by  the  law   and 


OP    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  71 

the  prophets  was  also  by  obedience,  and  abundantl}'  more  so,  as  those 
may  see  who  consult  them. 

For  the  solitary  text  to  be  found  in  the  prophets  so  emphatically 
used  by  the  Apostle,  cannot  support  the  doctrine  of  life  or  justification 
by  faith  without  obedience,  or  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed. 
It  is  the  just  man  who  lives  by  his  faith,  not  the  unjust ;  he  disobeys 
and  makes  shipwreck.  But  the  just  man  lives  by  his  faith,  not  hold- 
ing it  as  an  occult  principle,  but  as  the  moving  spring  to  his  obedience, 
as  t^e  farmer  or  mechanic  lives  by  his  art,  by  occupying  it.  He  is 
faithful,  stable  and  true.  This  is  all  contained  in  the  Hebrew  word 
[inJIDN]  used  by  the  prophet  and  not  excluded  from  that  of  the  Apos- 
tle, and  is  all  of  the  nature  of  the  Christian  faith. 

But  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  im- 
puted to  believers  is  maintained,  on  principles  which  are  counted  suffi- 
cient to  support  it :  such  as,  that  he  is  our  surety  to  God  ;  that  in 
that  character  he  paid  to  God  for  us  the  debt  which  we  owed — satis- 
fied divine  justice  for  our  offences — suffered  the  penalty  of  the  law" 
which  we  had  incurred,  in  his  own  person  and  in  our  room,  and  the 
like. 

This  subject  has  been  so  abundantly  treated  on  for  ages,  in  its  different 
branches,  that  it  would  not  comport  with  the  design  or  limits  of  the 
present  work  to  notice  the  half  of  vv'hat  has  been  said,  or  of  the  argu- 
ments used  on  each  side  of  the  question.  I  intend  to  pay  some  atten- 
tion to  the  principal  grounds  on  which  the  doctrine  is  supported, 
to  show  in  as  plain  language  as  possible  that  they  will  not  stand. 
That  Christ  sustains  the  glorious  character  of  Redeemer  and  Mediator 
between  God  and  man  is  not  to  be  disputed,  and  that  he  is  the  true  and 
only  medium  of  access  to  the  Father  is  also  true.  But  that  he  was  our 
surety  to  God,  to  pay  in  our  room  that  debt  in  which  we  had  failed,  so 
as  to  release  us  from  the  payment,  is  quite  another  matter,  unsupported 
in  the  Scriptures. 

Jesus  is  once  called  the  surety  of  a  better  testament,  (Heb.  vii.  22,) 
and  this  he  was  in  the  character  of  Mediator.  Now  let  us  inquire,  in 
a  covenant,  testament  or  any  instrument  of  promise  or  obligation,  where- 
in a  surety  is  advisable.  Who  gives  the  surety  and  for  whose  satisfac- 
tion and  safety  is  he  given  ?  Doth  the  obligor  give  the  surety  to  the 
obligee,  for  his  safety  and  satisfaction  .?  or  doth  the  obligee  to  the  obli- 
gor.? Not  the  obligee  to  the  obligor,  but  the  obligor  to  the  obligee,  or 
the  testator  to  the  legatee.  Thus  a  man  who  executes  a  bond  furnishes 
security  that  he  will  perform  the  obligation,  or  contents  of  that  bond. 
Now  the  question  is,  Who  is  the  author  of  that  better  testament,  or  cove- 
nant ^  God  or  man  ?  If  man  be  the  author  and  Jesus  the  Mediator  or 
security,  between  the  two,  no  doubt  but  he  is  man's  surety  to  God,  a 
sponsor  to  God  on  man's  behalf,  that  man  will  perform  what  he  hath 
therein  promised.  But  the  new  and  better  covenant  did  not  originate 
in  man,  God  is  the  author  of  his  own  free  grace  ;  not  of  works  lest  any 
man  should  boast.  If  then  God  is  the  author  of  that  better  covenant  or 
testament ;  and  he  hath  therein  made  promise  to  do  certain  things  for 
man,  God  is  the  obligor  ;  consequently  he  gave  the  security,  and  Jesus,  in 
the  character  of  Mediator,  is  God's  surety  to  man,  that  God  will  perform 
what  he  hath  promised.  And  to  this  agree  the  words  of  the  Apostle, 
(Rom.  XV.  8  :)     "  Now  I  say,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  minister  of  the 


72  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

circumcision  for  the  truth  of  God  to  confirm  the  promises  made  to  the 
fathers."  And  in  every  other  character  which  he  sustains,  pertaining 
to  the  office  of  Mediator,  he  is  given  of  God  to  the  people.  Thus, 
"  Behold,  I  have  given  him  a  witness  to  the  people,  a  leader  and  a 
commander  to  the  people."  (Isa.  Iv.  4.)  "  Whom  God  halh  set  forth  a 
mercy-seat,  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness." 
(Rom.  iii.  25.)  Thus,  by  this  plain  and  familiar  statement,  it  is  evident 
that  Jesus  Christ  hath  not  at  all  done  what  is  so  often  ascribed  to  him 
in  the  character  of  surety  of  the  better  testament.  And  if  we  consider 
Christ  as  the  advocate  with  the  Father  ;  whether  we  use  the  word  ad- 
vocate, from  the  Latin  word  advoco,  to  call  to,  or  retain  the  Greek  word 
PARACLETE  from  m'a^u.xa'Ks!^  [paracaleo] ,  to  exhort,  or  comfort,  it  amounts 
to  the  same  thing  ;  he  is  given  of  God  to  the  people  to  exhort,  call 
and  encourage  them  to  come  to  God,  in  full  confidence  of  his  being  as 
good  as  he  hath  promised.  Thus  he  is  a  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  calling  them  to  come  to  God,  and 
an  exhorter  and  comforter  with  the  people,  encouraging  them  to  come, 
'and  showing  them  that  the  way  is  open,  and  making  intercession  for 
them.  "  Now  the  Lord  is  that  Spirit ;  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  is  liberty."  "  Likewise  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infir- 
mities ;  for  we  know  not  what  we  should  pray  for  as  we  ought ;  but 
the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot 
be  uttered.  And  he  that  searcheth  the  hearts  knoweth  what  is  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit,  because  he  maketh  intercession  for  the  saints  ac- 
cording to  God,"  (2  Cor.  iii.  17;  Rom.  viii.  26,27,)  and  answerable  to 
the  order  of  his  work. 

For  Christ  to  have  paid  to  God  in  our  room  the  debt  which  we 
owed  to  him,  or  to  his  law,  so  as  to  release  us  from  paying  the  same, 
would  have  been  a  poor  business  for  us,  as  well  as  a  poor  errand  into 
the  world,  for  him.  To  have  released  us  from  the  obligation  and  duty, 
and  consequently  to  have  deprived  us  of  the  privilege  of  loving  God 
and  serving  him.  For  we  have  before  proved  that  love  is  the  fulfilling 
of  the  whole  law. 

As  for  satisfying  divine  justice  for  our  offences  and  paying  the  penalty 
of  the  divine  law,  we  read  of  no  such  matters  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ; 
we  are  therefore  under  no  obligation  from  that  quarter  to  believe  them. 
We  read  of  satisfaction  in  one  part  of  those  Scriptures  which  speak  of 
Christ  and  his  sufferings  and  works  ;  but  it  is  not  relating  to  any  satis- 
faction made  to  him  by  God  in  our  room,  but  to  the  satisfaction  which 
he  would  take  in  seeing  the  fruit  of  his  ov\  n  labours.  "He  shall  see 
of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied."  (Isa.  liii ;  11.)  What 
Jesus  Christ  did  for  us,  on  our  behalf,  and  for  our  salvation,  he  did  on 
quite  another  principle  than  to  pay  our  debt,  or  to  suffer  the  penalty  of 
divine  law,  or  to  satisfy  divine  justice  in  our  room,  or  to  appease  an 
angry  God  or  offended  justice,  or  the  like,  (for  these  all  mean  one 
thing,)  to  release  us  from  any  obligation,  by  vicarious  sufferings  or 
proxy  payment. 

For  what  purpose  then  did  Christ  come  into  the  u-orld,  and  do  and  siiffer 
all  that  he  did?  This  is  an  important  question  and  worthy  of  a  sober 
reply.  It  comprehends  the  whole  of  that  relation  which  Christ  bears 
to  God  and  to  men  as  Mediator  between  them  both.     The  follow- 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  73 

ing  particulars  are   proposed  to  give  satisfactory  information   on  this 
subject. 

He  came  to  reveal  the  Father  to  men.  "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at 
any  time  ;  the  only  begotten  Son,  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
he  hath  revealed  him."  (Jno.  i.  18.)  "  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father."  (xiv.  9.)  The  true  knowledge  of  God  was  not 
with  men,  but  he  is  revealed  in  Christ,  Who  is  the  brightness  of  his 
glory  and  the  character  [the  express  image]  of  his  existence.  (Heb. 
i.  3.)  By  this  revelation  men  are  taught  what  God  is,  and  how  far 
they  are  fallen  from  their  original  rectitude  ;  for  as  man  was  created  in 
the  image  of  God  and  to  be  ihe  glory  of  God,  and  had  fallen  by  sin, 
God  sent  another,  a  second  or  a  new  man,  in  his  own  image  more  deep- 
ly expressed,  to  be  the  beginning  of  a  new  creation,  in  whom  to  recover 
man  from  his  fall  and  restore  him  to  favour  and  fellowship  in  a  more 
happy  condition  than  at  the  first. 

He  came  to  open  the  new  and  living  way ;  a  way  before  unknown, 
and  containing  in  it  true  and  eternal  life,  being  infinitely  preferable 
to  the  ministration  of  death  and  condemnation  which  was  before. 
"  But  if  the  ministration  of  death,  written  and  engraven  in  stones,  was 
glorious,  so  that  the  children  of  Israel  could  not  stedfastly  behold  the 
face  of  Moses  for  the  glory  of  his  countenance,  which  glory  was  to  be 
done  away  ;  how  shall  not  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit  be  rather  glo- 
rious ?  for  if  the  ministration  of  condemnalion  be  glory,  much  more 
ddththe  ministration  of  righteousness  exceed  in  glory."  (2  Cor.  iii,  7, 
8,  9.)  "  Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest 
by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which  he  hath  conse- 
crated for  us  through  the  vail,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh,  and  having  an 
high  priest  over  the  house  of  God,  let  us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart, 
in  full  assurance  of  faith."     (Heb.  x.  19,  &c.) 

.  And  as  he  came  to  open  the  new  and  living  way,  he  also  came  to 
be  our  example,  that  we  should  walk  in  his  steps.  "  But  if,  when 
ye  do  well,  and  suffer  for  it,  ye  take  it  patiently,  this  is  acceptable 
with  God.  For  even  hereunto  were  ye  called  :  because  Christ  also 
suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an  example  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps." 
(1  Pet.  ii.  20,  21.)  "If  any  man  w'ill  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow  me."  "  And  he  that 
doth  not  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  after  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me." 
(Luke.  ix.  23  ;  Matt.  x.  38.)  Thus  he  is  our  forerunner,  the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith,  the  first  who  introduced  it  into  the  world,  and  the 
first  who  perfected  it  by  obedience.  For  as  the  faith  of  Abraham  was 
made  perfect  by  works,  so  is  also  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  made  perfect 
in  obedience  ;  as  well  as  that  of  all  Christians,  who  are  called  to  "lay 
aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  run 
with  patience  the  race  which  is  set  before  us,  looking  to  Jesus  the 
author  and  finisher  of  faith  ;  who  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him, 
endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne  of  God."  (Heb.  xii.  1,  2.)  Thus  for  our  benefit  he 
came  to  set  us  the  example  of  denying  self  and  doing  the  will  of  God. 
"  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.  For  I  came 
down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that 
sent  me."     (Jno.  vi.  37,  38.) 


74  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

He  came  into  the  world  that  men  might  be  saved  and  have  eternal 
life  through  him.  "  For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  is  lost."  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  shoiald  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life.  For  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world  to 
condemn  the  world  ;  but  that  the  world  through  him  might  be  saved." 
(Luke  xix.  10  ;  Jno.  iii.  16,  17.) 

He  came  to  reconcile  the  world  to  God,  by  revealing  God  to  men 
and  showing  them  the  terms  of  reconciliation,  to  wit,  "  That  God 
was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  himself,  not  imputing  their 
trespasses  unto  them."  (2  Cor.  v.  19.)  This  is  the  subject  in  rela- 
tion to  which  there  has  been  so  much  darkness  in  the  world  of  pro- 
fessors, so  much  error,  and  much  contention,  supposing  that  God 
in  Christ,  or  through  him,  was  reconciled  to  the  world,  contrary  to 
the  language  of  the  Scripture,  instead  of  the  world  being  reconciled 
to  him  ;  which  would  mean,  if  any  thing,  either  that  God  had  through 
Christ  become  an  approver  of  man's  ways,  corrupt  and  sinful  as  they 
are,  or  else,  that  God  had  been  so  angry  at  sin  and  sinners  as  to  put 
him  out  of  his  proper  element,  and  make  him  unwilling  to  receive  the 
returning  sinner  until  he  had  spent  his  vengeance  on  the  sinner  or  his 
substitute  ;  which  having  done  on  Jesus  Christ,  he  becomes  calm  and 
can  be  approached  by  a  returning  penitent,  whom  he  now  receives 
with  the  utmost  complacency.  But  these  things  are  incompatible 
with  the  perfections  of  God,  and  not  worthy  to  be  imputed  to  him. 
The  Scripture  is  plain  enough  that  men  through  Christ  are  reconciled 
to  God,  and  are  then  at  peace  with  him ;  and  that  establishes  peace 
between  the  God  of  peace  and  men  of  peace. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  word  atonement^  which  has  commonly  been 
understood,  as  applied  to  God,  the  effect  of  a  pacifying  satisfaction, 
to  appease  his  anger,  when  the  Scripture  so  expressly  declares  that  ice 
have  received  it^  and  also  shows  that  atonement  is  the  same  as  recon- 
ciliation. "  For  if,  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to 
God  by  the  death  of  his  Son,  much  more,  being  reconciled^  we  shall 
be  saved  by  his  life.  And  not  only  so,  but  we  also  joy  in  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  we  have  now  received  the 
atonement  or  reconciliaiion.''''  (Rom.  v.  10,  11.)  This  connection  is  a 
testimony  for  the  English  reader,  that  the  atonement  here  said  to  be 
received  is  the  same  as  reconciliation,  that  is,  the  effect  or  fruit  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  or  being  reconciled  to  God,  as  mentioned  in  the  for- 
mer clauses.  The  Greek  word  also  here  rendered  atonement  is 
properly  rendered  by  reconciliation.  And  by  whichever  word 
it  be  rendered,  it  is  evidently  that  which  must  take  place  in 
the  creature,  for  God  is  unchangeably  the  same.  And  that 
change,  or  reconciliation,  must  also  be  in  reality  ;  not  by  imput- 
ing the  righteousness  of  another  ;  the  Scriptures  make  no  mention 
of  any  such  thing  in  the  case.  (See  B.  W.  Stone's  Letters  on  Atone- 
ment.) 

He  came  to  be  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  those  who 
believe  in  him.  That  is,  to  put  an  end  to  the  Mosaic  law,  by  fulfilling 
it  in  himself  and  showing  the  people  how  to  be  righteous  without  it, 
by  believing  in  him,  confessing  him,  and  doing  the  will  of  God  as  he 
did,  and  thus  becoming  their  sacrifice  and  their  righteousness,  as  it  is 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  75 

written,  "  And  tMs  is  the  name  wlierebylie  shall  be  called,  The  Lord 
OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS."  (Jer.  xxiii.  6.)  "  For  Clirist  is  the  end  of 
the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  helieveth.  For  Moses 
describeth  the  righteousness  which  is  of  the  law,  that  the  man  who 
doeth  those  things  shall  live  by  them.  But  the  righteousness  which 
is  of  faith  speaketh  on  this  wise,  That  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy 
mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God 
hath  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved."  (Rom.  x.  4,  5, 
9.)  Thus  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  those 
who  believe  in  him  and  confess  him.  "  But  now  without  the  law 
[according  to  the  order  of  the  Greek  text]  the  righteousness  of  God 
is  manifested,  being  witnessed  [or  more  properly,  testified]  by  the 
law  and  the  prophets ;  even  the  righteousness  of  God  by  the  faith 
of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe."  (Rom.  iii. 
21,  22.)  And  that  he  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  those 
who  believe,  not  merely  by  offering  himself  a  sacrifice  or  sin-offering 
to  God  in  their  room,  but  by  doing  the  will  of  God  as  it  ought  to  be 
done,  and  so  becoming  an  example  and  establishing  that  which 
should  supersede  the  law,  is  evident  from  the  very  pointed  language  of 
the  Apostle,  where  he  speaks  particularly  on  that  subject,  and  quotes 
the  words  of  David  in  the  fortieth  psalm,  with  literal  application  to 
Christ  as  doing  the  thing  here  contended  for.  "  For  it  is  not  possi- 
ble that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away  sins. 
Wherefore,  when  he  cometh  into  the  world  he  saith.  Sacrifice  and  of- 
fering thou  wouldst  not,  but  a  body  hast  thou  prepared  me  :  in  burnt 
offerings  and  sacrifices  for  sin  thou  hast  had  no  pleasure  :  then  said 
I,  Lo,  I  come  (in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  me)  to  do 
thy  will,  0  God.  Above,  when  he  said.  Sacrifice,  and  offering  and 
burnt  offerings,  and  offering  for  sin,  thou  wouldst  not,  neither  hadst 
pleasure  therein  ;  [which  are  offered  by  the  law  ;]  then  said  he,  Lo, 
I  come  to  do  thy  will,  0  God.  He  taketh  away  the  first,  that  he 
may  establish  the  second.  By  the  which  will  we  are  sanctified, 
through  the  offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  once."  (Heb.  x. 
4-10. )  Thus  expressly  it  is  stated  what  he  established  as  the  second, 
to  succeed  the  law  of  sacrifices  which  was  first,  that  is,  doing  the  will 
of  God.  And  then  the  whole  plan  is  according  to  the  words  of  Christ 
before.  (Matt.  vii.  21.)  "  Not  everyone  that  saith  unto  me.  Lord, 
Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  he  that  doeth  the 
will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  Heaven."  If  then  Jesus  and  his  apostles 
preached  the  true  Gospel,  if  they  understood  what  it  is,  and  are  safe 
guides  to  eternal  life,  this  is  the  way — To  do  the  wUl  of  God  after 
his  example,  and  influenced  by  the  faith  that  is  in  him,  the  first,  as 
well  as  principal  leader  and  perfecter  of  faith.  And  though  it  is  also 
said  that  he  offered  a  sacrifice  for  sins,  the  connection  and  effect  show 
that  this  is  not  contrary  to  what  is  here  contended  for,  but  that  he 
offered  himself  as  a  sin-offexing  to  the  people,  and  to  God  as  their 
example  and  leader,  and  thus  the  effect  was  produced  in  the  people, 
while  he,  as  their  forerunner,  gave  himself  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice 
of  a  sweet  smelling  savour  to  God.  "  And  every  priest  standeth 
daily  ministering,  and  offering  oftentimes  the  same  sacrifices,  which 
can  never  take  away  sins ;  but  this  man,  after  he  had  offered  one  sa- 
crifice for  sins,  forever  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God  j  from 


76  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

hencefortli  expecting  till  his  enemies  be  made  his  footstool.  For  by 
one  offering  lie  bath  perfected  forever  tbem  that  are  sanctified." 
(Heb.  X.  11-14.)  Instead  of  the  various  and  repeated  offerings  of 
the  Levitical  priesthood,  one  offering,  in  the  true  head  and  leader  of 
his  people,  was  sufficient  for  the  perfecting  of  himself  and  of  all  those 
who  are  finally  sanctified,  who  are  all  those  who  perseveringly  walk  in 
the  same  nrjrow,  new  and  living  way  which  he  hath  consecrated. 
Hence  the  Apostle  exhorts  :  "  Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness 
to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living 
way,  which  he  hath  consecrated  for  us  through  the  vail,  that  is  to  say, 
his  flesh  ;  and  having  a  high  priest  over  the  house  of  God,  let  us 
draw  near  with  a  true  heart,  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having  our 
hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our  bodies  washed  with 
pure  water."  Then,  after  some  awful  admonitions  and  warnings  to 
those  who  had  believed,  not  to  violate  their  faith,  but  to  maintain 
their  confidence  with  perseverance,  he  concludes;  "Now  the  just 
shall  live  by  faith  :  [not  the  unjust  or  sinful  ;]  but  if  he  [the  just ; 
for  the  words  any  man,  are  not  in  the  Greek  text ;  if  he]  draiv  back, 
my  soul  shall  have  no  pleasure  in  him.  But  we,"  he  continueth, 
"  are  not  of  those  who  draw  back  to  perdition  ;  But  of  them  that 
believe  to  the  saving  of  the  soul."  Why  so  .^  because  we  have  any 
exclusive  gift  of  faith,  or  peculiar  privilege  }  By  no  means  ;  but 
because  we  persevere  in  faith  and  the  righteous  use  of  it,  continuing 
to  be  just  men,  having  gained  that  power  by  the  Gospel,  as  we  also 
exhort  others  to  do.  Let  these  things  suffice  at  present,  to  show 
how  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  to  believers  ;  not  by  offering  up 
himself  a  sacrifice  as  our  surety  or  substitute,  but  by  consecrating /or 
us,  through  his  flesh  and  by  his  own  example,  a  new  and  living  way, 
to  do  the  will  of  God  as  the  second,  the  substance,  to  supersede  the  first, 
the  unprofitable  shadows  of  the  law.  "For  such  an  high  priest 
became  us,  who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners, 
and  made  higher  than  the  heavens  ;  who  needeth  not  daily,  as  those 
high  priests,  to  offer  up  sacrifice,  first  for  his  own  sins,  and  then  for 
the  people's  ;  for  this  he  did  once,  when  he  offered  up  himself."  (Heb. 
vii.  26,  27.)  In  this  the  pre-eminence  and  perfection  of  his  sacrifice 
are  clearly  manifest,  because  one  offering  was  sufficient,  instead  of  the 
continual  offerings  of  other  priests. 

Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many, 
even  for  all  who  will  receive  and  obey  him,  as  it  is  written  :  "  Even 
as  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister, 
and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  "Who  gave  himself  a 
ransom  for  all,  to  be  testified  in  due  season."  "That  he  by  the 
grace  of  God  should  taste  death  for  every  man."  (Matt.  xx.  28  ; 
1  Tim.  ii.  6  ;  Heb.  ii.  9.) 

He  came  into  the  world,  lived  and  died,  to  be  the  leader  and  captain 
of  salvation  to  his  people,  to  lead  them  through  the  warfare  against 
sin  to  final  victory.  "Behold,  I  have  given  thee  for  a  witness  to  the 
people,  for  a  leader  and  commander  to  the  people."  "But  we  see 
Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the  suffering  of 
death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honour  ;  that  he  by  the  grace  of  God 
should  taste  death  for  every  man.  For  it  became  him,  for  whom  are 
all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  to  glory. 


OF    JUSTlFIOAXrON    AND    IMPUTATION.  77 

to  make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings. 
For  both  he  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  who  are  sanctified  are  all  of 
one  :  for  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren  ;  say- 
ing, I  will  declare  thy  name  among  my  brethren  ;  in  the  midst  of  the 
church  will  I  sing  praise  unto  thee.  And  a^ain  I  will  put  my  trust 
in  him."  (Isa.  Iv.  4  ;  Heb.  ii.  9,  &c.)  Aleader,  worthy  to  be  trusted; 
because  he  would  never  lead  in  any  wrong  or  forbidden  path,  and 
would  never  give  ground  to  his  enemies,  but  endured  all  things  for 
the  sake  of  those  who  would  follow  him.  "  For  Christ  also  hath  once 
suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  [or  by]  the  unjust  that  he  might  lead  us 
to  God,  [so  in  the  Greek,]  being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quick- 
ened in  the  spirit."  (1  Pet.  iii.  18.)  In  perfect  agreement,  also, 
with  his  character  as  a  leader  of  the  people,  and  given  to  them  of 
God  for  that  purpose,  to  lead  them  to  him,  he  is  the  Mediator  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  surety  of  a  better  testament  on  God's  behalf, 
and  for  the  benefit  and  satisfaction  of  the  people,  as  already  shown. 
Thus  he  came  to  be  in  all  things  the  salvation  of  God  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles  and  the  glory  of  his  people 
Israel. 

Other  particulars  might  be  named,  as  his  taking  away,  or  bearing 
the  sin  of  the  world,  but  all  these  are  either  included  in  those  already 
stated,  or  will  be  in  those  subjects  yet  to  be  considered  in  connection 
with  this.  But  in  all  these  things,  which  comprehend  the  purposes 
of  his  coming  into  the  world,  there  is  not  a  word  of  his  righteousness, 
or  what  he  has  done  and  suffered,  being  imputed  to  believers  for 
their  justification.  Neither  is  there  any  prospect  of  any  man's  being 
a  partaker  with  Christ  in  his  salvation  and  his  glory,  unless  he  first 
partake  with  him  in  his  sufferings  and  death,  unless  he  embrace  the 
same  faith  of  Christ,  to  do  the  will  of  God,  walking  as  he  walked. 
"For  in  that  he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once  ;  but  in  that  he  liveth, 
he  liveth  unto  God.  Likewise  reckon  ye  also  yourselves  to  be  dead 
indeed  to  sin,  but  alive  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 
"  For  if  we  be  dead  with  him,  we  shall  also  live  with  him  :  If  we 
suffer  we  shall  also  reign  with  him  :  if  we  deny  him,  he  will  also  deny 
us."  (Rom.  vi.  10,  11  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  11,  12.) 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED,  BY  INaUIEING  INTO  THE  NATURE  AND 
DESIGN  OP  THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST,  AND  WHETHER  IT  IS  IMPUT- 
ED   TO    US    FOR    JUSTIFICATION. 

But  it  will  be  alleged  that  if  we  inquire  directly  into  the  purposes 
and  effects  of  his  death,  we  will  find  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ  well  supported.  We  shall, 
therefore,  inquire  into  his  death  in  relation  to  those  points,  or  why 


78  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

it  was  necessary  for  him  to  die.  And  seeing  he  became  man,  and 
was  subject  to  the  ordinary  infirmities  of  humanity,  it  was  necessary, 
in  the  order  of  things,  that  he  should  experience  the  dissolution  of 
the  animal  life,  by  putting  ofi"  the  earthly  man,  and  should  pass  into 
glory  as  the  proper  forerunner  of  his  people,  and  that  his  victory 
and  triumph  should  be  proclaimed  for  the  encouragement  of  others 
to  come  forth  in  his  name  to  the  same  reward.  "  Ought  not  Christ 
to  have  suiffered  these  things  and  to  enter  into  his  glory  .?"  "  Thus 
it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from 
the  dead  the  third  day ;  and  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
should  be  preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations."  (Luke  xxiv.  26, 
46,  47.) 

It  was  necessary  he  should  die  to  confirm  the  new  covenant,  that 
is,  the  testament  or  will,  and  secure  the  inheritance,  according  to  or- 
der, to  the  heirs  of  the  promise.  Thus  it  was  necessary,  not  only  that 
he  should  live  a  minister  of  the  circumcision  to  confirm  the  promises 
made  to  the  fathers,  but  also,  as  no  testament  or  will  is  confirmed  until 
after  the  death  of  the  legator,  and  as  it  was  impossible  for  God  to  die, 
but  possible  for  his  surety  of  the  better  testament,  who  was  made  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the  suffering  of  death,  it  was  necessary 
that  he  should  die,  that  by  his  death  he  might  confirm  the  legatees  in 
the  possession  of  the  inheritance  ;  having  faithfully  kept  the  covenant 
himself,  and  never  forfeited  the  right  of  inheritance  to  his  seed. 
"  And  for  this  cause  he  is  the  mediator  of  the  new  testament,  that  by 
means  of  death,  for  the  redemption  of  the  transgressions  under  the 
first  testament,  they  who  are  called  might  receive  the  promise  of  eter- 
nal inheritance.  For  where  a  testament  is,  there  must  of  necessity  be 
the  death  of  the  testator.  For  a  testament  is  of  force  after  men  are 
dead  :  otherwise  it  is  of  no  strength  at  all  while  the  testator  liveth. 
Whereupon  neither  the  first  testament  was  dedicated  without  blood." 
(Heb.  ix.  15-18.)  But  this  was  only  a  shadow  or  sign  for  the  time 
then  present.  For  the  first  testament  was  imperfect,  so  that  the  trans- 
gressions which  were  under  it  could  not  be  redeemed,  that  is,  done 
away,  and  the  people  redeemed  from  them.  For  in  that  testament 
there  was  no  real  death  of  the  testator,  all  things  being  in  shadows  ; 
BO  real  testator  had  ever  appeared,  capable  of  the  suffering  of  death; 
neither  had  any  been  found  to  condemn  sin  in  the  true  seat  of  it,  the 
flesh,  and  set  the  example  of  dying  to  sin  and  living  to  God,  as  Jesus 
did,  putting  his  people  on  the  true  line,  according  to  the  law  of  the 
Spirit  of  life,  to  come  into  the  possession  of  the  promised  inheritance. 
But  when  Christ  thus  appeared  as  the  mediator  of  the  new  and  better 
testament,  he  consecrated  the  new  and  living  way  through  the  vail, 
that  is  to  say,  his  flesh,  and  put  the  heirs  on  the  safe  way  to  the  in- 
heritance, redeeming  them  from  all  their  transgressions,  and  then  con- 
firmed the  whole  by  his  death. 

It  was  necessary  that  he  should  die,  and  visit  the  dark  abodes  of 
departed  spirits,  and  return  again  amongst  the  living,  that  his  trium- 
phant victory  over  death  and  sin  might  be  made  known  to  all,  his  sal- 
vation proclaimed,  and  his  government  established  as  head  over  all 
things  to  the  Church.  "  For  to  this  end  Christ  both  died,  and  rose, 
and  revived,  that  he  might  be   Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  living." 


OP    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  79 

"  For,  for  this  cause  was  the  Gospel  preached  to  the  dead  also,  that 
they  might  be  judged  according  to  men  in  the  flesh,  hut  live  accord- 
ing to  [the  purpose  and  work  of]  God  in  the  Spirit ;"  accordingly 
the  quick  and  the  dead  shall  all  be  judged  by  one  judge  and  on  the 
same  principles. 

The  learned  Macknight,  of  Scotland,  seems  to  have  been  com- 
pelled, by  the  irresistible  force  of  literal  truth,  to  translate  vsxpoTg, 
[necrois]  correctly,  the  dead,  which,  as  it  would  seem,  to  avoid  giving 
support  to  the  Roman  Catholic  doctrine  of  purgatory,  or  any  other 
prospect  of  the  Gospel's  being  a  remedy  for  souls  out  of  the  earthly 
tabernacle,  (which  last  idea  the  simple  and  natural  translation  con- 
firms,) he  has  given  a  very  unnatural  and  forced  translation,  or  father 
construction  of  the  whole  together,  to  compel  the  phrase,  the  dead, 
to  mean  in  sin,  notwithstanding  the  evident  contrast  stated  by  the 
words  of  the  Apostle,  between  the  dead  and  those  in  the  flesh,  which 
by  such  a  construction  is  lost.  For  it  is  remarkable  that  the  Apostle 
in  the  whole  of  this  discourse  hath  used  the  term  flesh,  in  one  uni- 
form sense,  meaning  the  animal  body.  And  as  though  he  proposedly 
avoided  the  confusion  of  ideas  which  would  arise  by  using  the  same 
words  in  diff"erent  meanings,  he  hath  used  these  two  phrases,  lusts  of 
men,  and  ivill  of  the  Gentiles,  to  express  the  evils  commonly  ascribed 
to  the  flesh. 

But  the  words  of  the  apostle  Paul  are  not  to  be  omitted,  which 
serve  as  a  farther  elucidation  of  this  subject.  For  concerning  Christ 
he  saith  :  "  And,  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  him- 
self, and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross  : 
wherefore  God  also  hath  highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name 
which  is  above  every  name  ;  that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  every 
knee  should  bow,  of  those  in  heaven  and  those  on  earth  and  those  un- 
der the  earth ;  and  every  tongue  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  (Phil.  ii.  8-11.)  The  Greek  word 
translated  things,  in  our  English  Bibles,  is  so  translated  without 
reason ;  which  may  easily  be  perceived  by  the  common  reader,  be- 
cause inanimate  and  unconscious  beings  are  not  expected  to  bow  the 
knee  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  This  is  only  expected  of  those  who  are 
capable  subjects  of  his  salvation,  or  of  the  contemplation  of  his  char- 
acter and  works.  This  text  therefore,  irresistibly  relates  to  the  wor- 
ship paid  to  him  and  to  God  in  his  name  by  the  inhabitants  of  heaven 
and  of  earth  and  of  those  under  the  earth,  that  is,  of  those  who  have 
departed  from  the  material  body,  which  they  have  left  in  the  earth, 
but  have  not  ascended  to  heaven,  having  not  yet  been  saved. 

He  died  to  set  forth  and  recommend  the  love  of  God  to  a  dying 
world  of  men  for  their  salvation,  and  to  engage  them  to  follow  him 
and  live  to  him  who  died  for  them.  "  But  God  hath  commended  his 
love  towards  us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us. 
Much  more  then,  being  now  justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved 
from  wrath  through  him.  For  if,  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were 
reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son  ;  much  more  being  recon- 
ciled we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life  ;"  ifioe  make  it  our  own  by  living  as 
he  lived.  "  For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  ;  because  we  thus 
judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead;  and  that  he  died 


80  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

for  all,  that  they  who  live  should  not  henceforth  live  to  themselves, 
but  to  him  who  died  for  them  and  rose  again."  (Rom.  v.  8,  9,  10  ;  2 
Cor.  V.  14,  15.) 

These  things  comprehend  the  purposes  and  effects  of  the  death  of 
Christ  in  general  terms.  They  might  be  stated  in  a  number  of  dif- 
ferent manners  according  to  the  variety  of  language  used  in  the 
Scriptures,  to  express  by  various  phrases  one  and  the  same  thing. 
But  to  notice  all  these  expressions  distinctly  would  be  unnecessary. 
My  purpose  is  to  satisfy  and  convince  those  who  are  in  search  of  the 
truth,  that  there  is  no  such  doctrine  as  that  of  justification  by  the 
imputed  righteousness  of  Christ,  contained  or  supported  in  the  Scrip- 
ture account  of  the  purposes  and  effects  of  his  coming  into  the  world 
and  dying.  But  it  maybe  alleged  that  although  the  point  cannot  be 
proved  by  considering  the  subject  in  general  terms,  it  can,  by  de- 
scending to  particulars,  and  that  there  are  a  number  of  concise  and 
well-expressed  arguments  contained  in  plain  Scriptures,  which  have 
not  been  introduced,  by  which  it  can  be  confirmed.  We  shall  now 
have  recourse  to  these,  after  once  more  reminding  the  reader  of  the 
unaccountableness,  not  to  say  the  injustice  of  the  notion,  that  God 
should  fix  the  justification  or  final  salvation  of  men,  on  that  ground, 
which  is  not  once  named  in  all  the  revelations  which  he  hath  made 
on  those  subjects  :  that  is,  justification  by  the  imputed  righteousness 
of  Christ  as  their  surety,  to  pay  their  debt  to  law  and  justice  in  their 
room.  We  have  seen  that  no  such  character  belongs  to  Christ,  con- 
sequently the  fabric  which  is  built  on  it  must  fall.  But  let  us  pro- 
ceed : 

"  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly,"  and  "  While  we  were  yet  sinners 
Christ  died  for  us."  (Rom.  v.  6,  8.)  "  Christ  hath  sufferedfor  us  in 
the  flesh."  (1  Pet.  iv.  1.)  Hence  it  is  concluded,  that  he  died  as  a 
surety  or  substitute  in  our  room  and  stead.  And  it  is  farther  argued, 
that  the  proposition  "  for"  [u^ip]  signifies  "  in  the  room  and  stead  of." 
If  that  be  true,  then  Christ  died  [u^rsp]  in  the  room  and  stead  of  our 
sins,  that  they  might  not  die  but  be  saved  ;  for  it  is  written,  "  That 
Christ  died  for  our  [u^sp]  sins."  (1  Cor.  xv.  3.)  But  this  conse- 
quence is  not  only  false,  but  too  absurd  to  be  admitted.  The  argu- 
ment, therefore,  from  which  it  is  fairly  drawn,  that  is,  that  "  for," 
[u'^sp]  necessarily  signifies  "in  the  room  and  stead  of,"  is  false.  But 
the  Apostle  hath  stated  the  nature  and  design  of  Christ's  suffering  for 
us,  for  our  sakes,  on  our  account,  or  in  our  cause,  that  we  might  fol- 
low his  example  ;  "  For  even  hereunto  were  ye  called ;  because 
Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an  example,  that  ye  should 
follow  his  steps."  (1  Pet.  ii.  21.)  Thus  while  believers  are  engag- 
ed in  the  cau.se  of  Christ  as  he  suffered  for  them,  they  also  suffer  for 
him.  "  For  to  you  it  is  given  in  the  behalf  of  Christ,  [virsp  XpirfrS] 
not  only  to  believe  on  him,  but  also  to  suffer  for  his  sake  [u^ep 
aurS.]  (Phil.  i.  29.)  So  in  another  place,  the  Apostle,  speaking  of 
the  Gospel,  saith,  "  Whereof  I,  Paul,  am  made  a  minister,  who  now 
rejoice  in  my  sufferings  for  [u^sp]  you,  and  fill  up  that  which  is 
behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  my  flesh  for  his  body's  sake, 
[u'^rip 'fS  rfojf^aroj  aurS]  which  is  the  church."  (Col.  i.  24.)  And 
John,  "  In  him  we  have  known  love,  because  he  laid  down  his  life 
for  [uTTSp]   us  ;    and  we  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  [ufc-p]  the 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  81 

brethren."  (1  Jno.  iii.  16.)  These  authorities  are  sufficient  to  show 
us  and  all  candid  men,  that  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  dying  for  us  and 
for  our  sins,  contains  in  it  no  foundation  for  that  of  his  dying  in  our 
room  and  stead,  or  of  vicarious  obedience  or  sufferings,  proxy  pay- 
ment, or  surety  righteousness,  or  the  righteousness  of  Christ  in  any 
other  character  imputed  to  believers,  on  any  account  unless  by  doing 
as  he  did  and  being  righteous  on  the  same  principle  with  him.  "  He 
that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous  even  as  he  is  righteous." 

But  another  argument  for  justification  by  the  imputed  righteous- 
ness of  Christ,  is  that"  righteousness  is  imputed  to  them  that  believe. 
Hence  it  is  concluded,  that  this  righteousness  which  is  imputed  must 
be  the  surety  righteousness  of  Christ.  But  we  have  before  seen  that 
whatever  righteousness  is  imputed,  or  whatever  was  imputed  for 
righteousness,  was  that  which  existed  in  the  man,  his  own  faith  ac- 
companied by  obedience  to  the  extent  of  what  was  required  in  every 
<5ase.  Although  faith  alone  will  never  save  any  man,  or  establish 
any  man  in  an  abiding  state  of  justification,  it  may  introduce  him  into 
the  path.  For  he  who  believes  the  truth  on  sufficient  evidence  and 
agrees  to  it  in  his  heart,  with  determination  to  obey,  has  done  all  he 
can  do  until  something  farther  offers  ;  he  is  therefore  justified.  Thus 
Abraham's  faith  was  counted,  reckoned,  or  imputed  to  him  for  right- 
eousness. But  in  what  spirit  or  practice  was  it  imputed  to  him  ?  of 
obedience  or  disobedience  ?  Not  of  disobedience  but  of  obedience. 
For  when  God  commanded  him  to  circumcise  all  the  males  in  his 
house,  had  he  refused,  or  had  he  not  from  the  time  of  believing  stood 
in  the  spirit  of  obedience  to  God  as  far  as  his  duty  was  made  known, 
his  justification  had  been  null,  and  that  which  was  imputed  to  him  for 
righteousness  would  not  have  been  thus  imputed.  And  on  the 
same  principle  of  obedience  was  righteousness  to  be  imputed  to 
Abraham's  family,  whether  Gentiles  or  Jews.  "  For  in  Jesus  Christ 
neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision  ;  but 
faith  which  worketh  by  love."  And  again;  "Circumcision  is 
nothing,  and  uncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  the  keeping  of  the 
commandments  of  God."  (Gal.  v.  6.  1  Cor.  vii.  19.)  "For  wesay 
that  faith  was  reckoned  to  Abraham  for  righteousness,  and  he  re- 
ceived the  sign  of  circumcision,  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  the 
faith  which  he  had,  being  yet  uncircumcised  ;  that  he  might  be  the 
father  of  all  them  that  believe,  though  they  be  not  circumcised ; 
that  righteousness  might  be  imputed  to  them  also  ;  and  the  father 
of  the  circumcision,  to  them  who  are  not  of  the  circumcision  only, 
but  who  also  walk  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  of  our  father  Abraham 
which  he  had  yet  being  uncircumcised."  (Rom.  iv.  9,  11,  &c.)  And 
what  were  the  steps  of  that  faith  of  Abraham  .'  Obedience  ;  which 
appears  in  every  case,  and  by  works  was  faith  made  perfect.  Deny 
it  if  ye  can.  But  "  he  staggered  not  at  the  promise  of  God  through 
unbelief;  but  was  strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God;  and  being 
fully  persuaded,  that  what  he  had  promised  he  was  able  to  perform. 
And  therefore  it  was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness.  Now  it  was 
not  written  for  his  sake  alone,  that  it  was  imputed  to  him  ;  but 
for  us  also,  to  whom  it  shall  be  imputed,  if  we  believe  on  him  that 
raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead ;  who  was  delivered  for 
our  ofi"ences  and  raised  again  for  our  justification."  (Rom.  iv.  20,  &c.) 
7 


82  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

But  in  all  this,  where  is  there  a  word  or  a  hint  of  any  righteousness 
of  Christ  imputed  to  any  Christian,  of  the  Jews  or  Gentiles,  to  Abra- 
ham or  to  us,  or  any  thing  else  except  the  faith  of  each  one,  includ- 
ing his  obedience  ?  For  who  will  venture  to  separate  them  ?  Or  if 
obedience  be  denied  to  have  any  connection  or  availableness  in  the 
point  of  justification,  after  the  apostle  Paul  had  said  so  pointedly 
that  the  faith  which  availed  in  Jesus  Christ,  is  that  which  worketh 
by  love,  and  James,  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith 
only,  there  is  still  nothing  said  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ  being 
imputed  to  any ;  the  nighest  the  whole  accourit  comes  to  it  is,  each 
one's  own  faith,  and  not  the  faith,  the  obedience  or  righteousness  of 
another.  Now  my  faith  is  not  the  obedience  or  righteousness  of 
Jesus  Christ,  as  my  substitute  or  surety,  neither  was  Abraham's. 

But  for  what  purpose,  and  on  what  principle,  was  he  delivered  for 
our  ofi"ences,  and  raised  again  for  our  justification  r  Not  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  imputation,  by  transferring  our  offences  to  him,  or  his  right- 
eousness to  us  .''  for  the  revelation  of  God  speaks  of  no  such  matter, 
either  here  or  any  where  else.  But  he  was  delivered  for  our  offences 
to  remove  them  and  prevent  or  put  a  stop  to  them,  by  bringing  in 
everlasting  righteousness,  and  making  an  end  of  sin ;  and  he  was 
raised  again  for  our  justification,  that  he  might  be  our  confidence  and 
our  support  in  God  ;  "  I  will  put  my  trust  in  him  ;''''  that  our  faith  and 
hope  in  God,  and  the  execution  of  our  redemption  in  Christ,  might 
not  fail,  but  have  an  inexhaustible  treasure  of  evidence  and  support ; 
*'  I  foresaw  the  Lord  always  before  my  face  ;  for  he  is  on  my  right 
hand  that  I  should  not  be  moved  ;  therefore  did  my  heart  rejoice,  and 
my  tongue  was  glad ;  moreover,  also,  my  flesh  shall  rest  in  hope,  be- 
cause thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell,  neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thine 
Holy  One  to  see  corruption."  And  all  these  things  take  effect  on  the 
principle,  and  according  to  the  plan,  of  God's  free  grace,  as  stated  by 
the  apostle  Paul.  "  But  now,  without  the  law,  the  righteousness  of 
God  is  manifested,  (not  imputed,)  being  witnessed  [or  testified]  by 
the  law  and  the  prophets ;  even  the  righteousness  of  God  through  the 
faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe  ;  for 
there  is  no  difference  ;  for  all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God  ;  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  whom  God  hath  set  forth  a  propitiation  [or 
mercy-seat,  Greek,  the  place  in  which  God  appeared  to  show  his 
glory  and  to  commune  with  the  people]  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to 
declare  [not  to  work  out  and  impute]  his  [that  is  God's]  righteous- 
ness for  the  remission  of  sins,  that  are  past ;  through  the  forbearance 
of  God ;  [not  through  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ  •]  to  de- 
clare, I  say,  at  this  time,  his  righteousness,  that  he  might  [have  an 
opportunity  to]  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in 
Jesus,"  [or,  as  in  the  Greek,  "  of  him  that  is  of  the  faith  of  Jesus, 
having  the  same  faith  with  him."  See  Heb.  ii.  13  ;  Acts  ii.  25,  27  ; 
Rom.  iii.  21,  26.]  Thus  he  was  raised  for  our  justification,  even  he, 
"  who  verily  was  foreordained  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
but  was  manifest  in  these  last  times  for  you,  who  by  him  do  believe  in 
God  that  raised  him  up  from  the  dead,  and  gave  him  glory  ;  that 
your  faith  and  hope  might  be  in  God."  (1  Pet.  i.  20,  21.)  And  if 
W8  by  him  believe  in  God,  it  will  be  accounted  to  us  for  righteous- 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUO^ATION.  83 

ness,  provided  we  do  not  make  shipwreck  of  our  faith  by  putting  away 
a  good  conscience  or  neglecting  obedience.  Now,  a  good  conscience 
depends  on  living  honestly  in  all  things ;  which  those  who  put  away, 
make  shipwreck  concerning  the  faith,  and  of  course  lose  their  justifica- 
tion.    (1  Tim.  i.  19.  Heb.  xiii.  18.) 

But  faith  without  obedience  cannot  justify  any  man.  A  man  may 
believe  the  truth  of  God,  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  the  only  way  of 
salvation,  and  be  firmly  persuaded  of  it,  but  have  no  intention  of  obey- 
ing :  such  a  one  hath  neither  part  nor  lot  in  justification  ;  his  faith 
will  be  imputed  to  him  for  the  greater  condemnation  ;  such,  in  some 
measure,  were  those  rulers  of  the  Jews,  who  believed  on  him  but  did 
not  confess  him,  because  they  loved  the  praise  of  men  more  than 
the  praise  of  God.  (Jno.  xii.  42,  43.)  Simon  the  sorcerer  be- 
lieved, but  was  not  justified.  Devils  also  believe.  It  may  be  object- 
ed that  the  faith  of  devils  is  not  a  proper  ground  of  argument,  to 
prove  that  men  may  believe  and  not  be  justified,  because  of  the 
Gospel's  being  offered  only  to  men.  Bat  as  the  Apostle  hath  used  it 
I  consider  myself  safe,  and  the  argument  proper.  James  has  proved 
that  a  man  cannot  be  justified  without  works ;  and  Paul,  after  all  he 
has  said  of  the  necessity  of  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  of  its  excluding 
the  works  of  the  law,  it  is  remarkable,  has  never  once  excluded 
obedience  to  the  Gospel ;  nay,  so  far  from  it,  that  he  uses  believing 
and  obeying  as  synonymous  terms,  in  one  of  his  most  particular 
descriptions  of  faith.  "  But  they  have  not  all  obeyed  the  Gospel ;  for 
Esaias  saith,  Lord,  who  hath  believed  our  report .?"  And  this  is  not 
all;  in  the  conclusion  of  this  same  epistle,  he  has  finally  concen- 
trated the  whole  work  and  design  of  the  Gospel,'  in  obedience,  not 
indeed  to  the  outward  ceremonies  of  the  law,  but  to  God  in  the 
faith  of  Christ — the  obedience  of  faith.  "  According  to  my  Gospel 
and  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the  revelation  of  the 
mystery  which  was  kept  secret  since  the  world  began,  but  now  is 
manifest,  and  by  the  Scriptures  of  the  prophets,  according  to  the 
commandment  of  the  everlasting  God,  made  known  to  all  nationiS 
for  the  obedience  of  faith."  (See  Rom.  x.  16,  and  xvi.  25,  26.)  And 
in  his  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  in  which  he  so  firmly  maintains  the 
faith  of  Christ  in  contrast  with  the  works  of  the  law,  obedience  is 
introduced  as  the  grand  substance,  without  which  their  faith  and 
standing  would  all  go  to  ruin.  "  0  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  be- 
witched you,  that  ye  should  not  obey  the  truth,  before  whose  eyes 
Jesus  Christ  hath  been  evidently  set  forth  crucified  among  you." 
Jesus  Christ  was  set  forth  to  them,  as  the  object  of  faith,  and  the 
Apostle  looked  for  obedience.  They  had  believed  with  extraordinary 
zeal  and  great  blessedness  ;  but  their  turning  away  from  the  obedi- 
ence of  faith  to  that  of  the  law,  was  making  havoc  of  their  faith. 
"  Are  ye  so  foolish  ?  having  begun  in  the  Spirit,  are  ye  now  made 
perfect  by  the  flesh  ?"  In  like  manner  also  Peter  considers  faith  and  obe- 
dience as  occupying  the  same  place  in  union,  putting  the  disobedient  in 
contrast  with  believers ;  "  He  that  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  con- 
founded." "  Unto  you  therefore  who  believe  he  is  precious ;  but  unto 
those  who  are  disobedient,  the  stone  which  the  builders  disallowed,  the 
same  is  made  the  head  of  the  corner,  and  a  stone  of  stumbling,  and 
a  rock  of  ofi'ence,  even  to  them  who  stumble  at  the  cross,  being  disobe- 
dient.''^    (Gal.  iii.  1 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  6-8.) 


84  ar  justification  and  imputation. 

Another  argument  in  defence  of  justification  by  the  imputed  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  is  grounded  on  such  Scriptures  as  these  :  "  Surely 
he  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows  ;  yet  we  did  esteem  • 
him,  [paid  attention  to  him,]  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted. 
But  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for  our 
iniquities  :  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him  ;  and  with  his 
stripes  [bruise,  Heb.]  we  are  healed.  All  we  like  sheep  have  gone 
astray  ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way  ;  and  the  Lord  hath 
laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all — for  the  transgression  of  my  people 
was  he  stricken — yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him  ;  he  hath  put 
him  to  grief:  when  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  he 
shall  see  his  seed,  he  shall  prolong  his  days,  and  the  pleasure  of  the 
Lord  shall  prosper  in  his  hand.  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul 
and  shall  be  satisfied  ;  by  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  servant 
justify  many ;  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities.  Because  he  hath 
poured  out  his  soul  unto  death :  and  he  was  numbered  with  the  trans- 
gressors ;  and  he  bare  the  sin  of  many,  and  made  intercession  for  lhe 
transgressors."  "  Who  his  owt\  self  bare  our  sins,  in  his  own  body  on 
the  tree,  that  we  being  dead  to  sin  should  live  unto  righteousness  ;  by 
whose  stripes  [bruise,  Greek]  ye  were  healed."  (Isa.  liii.  4,  5,  &c, 
1  Pet.  ii.  24. )  These  Scriptures  contain  the  substance  of  the  arguments 
drawn  from  that  class  ;  and  from  them  we  may  infer  the  following  pro- 
positions :  that  Jesus  bore  our  sins  ;  that  he  suffered  for,  or  by  our 
sins  ;  that  he  is  the  Mediator  or  Intercessor  through  whom  we  obtain 
deliverance. 

That  Jesus  bore  our  sins  therefore  is  granted  on  all  hands.  And  he 
could  not  otherwise  have  been  a  suitable  leader  and  Captain  to  his  peo- 
ple ;  he  could  not  otherwise  have  been  a  competent  forerunner  and 
example  to  his  people,  w'hose  steps  we  are  to  follow.  He  could  not 
without  bearing  our  sins,  have  been  properly  qualified  to  commiser- 
ate our  wretchedness  and  minister  suitable  relief.  "  For  it  became 
him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing 
many  sons  to  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  iheir  salvation  perfect 
through  sufferings.  Wherefore  in  all  things  it  behoved  him  to  be  made 
like  unto  his  brethren  ;  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high 
priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  intercession  for  the  sins  of  the 
people.  For  we  have  not  an  high  priest  who  cannot  be  touched  with 
the  feeling  of  our  infirmities  ;  but  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we 
are,  yet  without  sin,"  He  therefore  had  no  sin  of  his  own  ;  but  it 
behoved  him  to  bear  ours,  that  a  suitable  fellow  feeling  and  brotherhood 
might  be  consummated  between  us ;  "  For  both  he  that  sanctifieth 
and  they  who  are  sanctified,  are  all  of  one  ;  for  which  cause  he  is  not 
ashamed  to  call  them  brethren."     (Heb.  ii.  10,  11,  17;  and  iv.  15.) 

But  we  shall  inquire  more  particularly  how  he  came  to  bear  our  sins, 
and  in  what  respect  he  bore  them.  It  was  the  doing  of  the  Lord,  "  The 
Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all  :"  or,  as  the  Hebrew  text 
is,  Jehovah  halh  caused  the  iniquity  of  us  all  to  meet  in  him,  (see  maro-in 
of  Bibles,)  that  is,  to  intercept  him.  But  say  the  people.  He  imputed 
them  to  him  as  our  substitute  or  surety,  and  his  sufferings  and  obedi- 
ence will  be  imputed  to  us  for  justification.  This  however  is  man's 
doctrine.  The  Scriptures  have  no  such  stated  matters.  For  the  elucida- 
tion of  this  point,  I  will  give  a  concise  descant  on  the  above  texts  from 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  85 

the  fifty-third  of  Isaiah,  and  illustrate  them  by  other  Scriptures.     The 
prophet  saith,  "  He  is  despised  and  rejected  of  men  ;  a  man  of  sorrows, 
and  acquainted  with  grief;  and  we  hid  as  it  icere  our  faces  from  him  ;  he 
was  despised  and  we  esteemed  him  not,''''  [paid  no   attention  to  him."] 
Such  is  the  natural  enmity  of  this  world  against  God,  that  he  who  will 
serve  God  must  be  despised  by  this  world,  and  he  also  that  will  be  the 
friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy  of  God.     (Jas.  iv.  4.)     But  the  pro- 
phet viewing,  in  the  gift  of  prophecy,  this  man,  as  a  man  of  sorrows  and 
acquainted  with  grief,  as  his  abiding  condition  of  life  and  not  as  a  mat- 
ter of  an  hour  or  a  day — sorrows  and  grief,  such  as  were  incident  to 
the  human  race,  only  infinitely  greater  than  in  any  other  man,  {for  his 
visage  ivas  marred  more  than  any  man,  and  his  form  than  the  sons  of  men,) 
breaks  out  into  this  reflection  :  "  Swrehj  he  hath  home  our  griefs,  he  hath 
carried  our  sorrows  ;   [those  deathly  burdens  which  belong  to  us  sinners 
— he  seems  like  one  of  us  ;]   yet  we  did  esteem  him,  [paid   attention  to 
him]  stricken,  [or  touched,  with   our  distresses]  smitten  of  God  [who 
sent  him  on  this  errand  and  in  whose  cause  he  suffered  these  things] 
and  afflicted.     [Little  as  we  regarded  him  for  his  peculiar  excellence.] 
But  he  luas  wounded  for  [through,  Heb.^  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised 
for  [Heb.  through^  our  iniquities:  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon 
him;   [the  very    chastisement  through  the  enduring  of  which  we  may 
find  peace  ;]   by  his  stripes,  [Heb.  bruise^  loe  are  healed,  [as  fast  as  we 
sufTer  the  same  bruising  for,  or  on  account  of  sin  which  he  hath  suffered 
for  or  through  our  sins  ;  "  Because  Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us 
an  example  that  we  should  follow  his  steps."  "  For  he  that  hath  suffered 
in  the  flesh  hath  ceased  from  sin."     1  Pet.  ii.  21.  and  iv.  1.]      All  we 
like  sheep  have  gone  astray,  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way  ; 
and  Jehovah  hath  caused  the  iniquity  of  us  all  to  meet  in  him,  [to  inter- 
cept or  head  him  ;  that  he  may  experience  the  depth  of  our  miseries.] 
He  was  oppressed,  [or  as  it  hath  been  understood  and  the  Hebrew  text 
will  well  bear,  it  was  exacted  o?  him,  that  is,  all   the  obedience,  sub- 
jection, humiliation  and    sufferings     which  God  requireth  of    us,   he 
also  exacted  of  him  ;   and  very  properly,  as  he  undertook  to  be  a 
perfect  example  and  faithful  leader.     Accordingly]  he  was  afflicted, 
yet  he  opened  not  his  mouth  :  he  is  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter, 
and  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opened  not  his  mouth, 
but  endured  all  these  things  in  the  most  perfect  innocence  and  good- 
ness.    For  he  must  necessarily  come  to  death  under  the  burdens 
which  befel  him  in  opening  and  consecrating  for  us  the  new  and  living 
way  in  which  alone  the  honour  of  God  could  be  secured  in  our  salva- 
tion ;  I  say  he  must  necessarily  suffer  death,  under  all  the  ignominy 
and  envious  persecutions  which  they  were  to  expect,  whose  example 
he  had  undertaken  to  be,  else  his  example  had  not  been  consummately 
complete,  as  shown  in  its  place.     And  he  came  to  death  under  all 
the  burden  of  our  sins,  which  he  had  borne  through  his  life,  as  saith 
the  Apostle  ;  "  Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the 
tree,  that  we  being  dead  to  sin  fas  he  was]  might  live  unto  righteous- 
ness ;  by  whose  stripes  [or  bruise]  ye  were  healed.     Being  bruised 
as  he  was,  and  after  his  example."   (1  Pet.  ii.  24.)     He  was  taken 
from  prison  and  from  judgment.     This  is  the   same  Hebrew  particle 
here  rendered //-oot  prison  and  from  judgment,  which  in  a  foregoing- 
verse  is  rendered /or  our  transgressions  and /or  our  iniquities,  which 


86  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

I  have  rendered  through  or  hy  as  being  most  correspondent  to  its 
common  use,  and  as  most  clearly  expressing  tte  import  of  that  Scrip- 
ture. The  same  particle  is  also  rendered  by  in  the  margin  of  the 
verse  now  before  ns,  thus,  "  He  was.  taken  away  hy  distress  and  hy 
judgment."  The  same  also  is  used  in  this  member  of  the  sentence, 
'■'■For  he  was  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of  the  living  •''''  and  in  this  also. 
For  [by]  the  transgression  of  my  people  teas  he  stricken ;  [the  stroke 
was  upon  him.]  (See  margin.)  By  the  transgressions  [or  iniquities] 
of  my  people  he  was  led  to  death,  is  the  Greek  version.  And  he  made 
his  grave  with  the  wicked^  and  with  the  rich  in  his  death  ;  hecause  he  had 
done  no  violence,  neither  ivas  any  deceit  in  his  mouth.''''  The  wicked, 
such  as  Pilate,  gave  him  honour,  and  the  rich,  as  Joseph  of  Arimathea  ; 
such  was  the  innocence  of  his  life,  that  many  respected  him  and  gave 
him  an  honourable  burying,  according  to  the  manner  of  the  Jews. 
Yet  Jehovah  was  pleased  to  hruise  him  ;  he  hath  put  him  to  grief.  He 
put  him  into  that  very  lot  which  he  knew  he  could  not  fill  without 
being  bruised  and  put  to  grief;  and  especially  because  God  dwelt  in 
him  ;  for  that  was  the  cause  of  the  maltreatment  which  he  received 
from  men.  They  hated  him  without  cause  ;  and  the  reproaches  of 
them  that  reproached  God  fell  on  him.  Yet  this  lot  it  behoved  him 
to  fill  to  the  last  extremity,  or  fail  of  consecrating  the  new  and  living 
way  for  his  followers. 

'■''When  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  he  shall  see  his 
seed,  he  shall  prolong  his  days,  and  the  pleasure  of  Jehovah  shall 
prosper  in  his  hand.''''  Who  shall  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin  r 
God  the  Father  ?  And  to  whom  shall  he  offer  him  ?  To  himself,  to 
spend  his  fury  upon  him  ?  Nay,  but  to  the  people  ;  for  in  them  the 
atonement  is  to  be  made  ;  in  them  reconciliation  is  to  be  wrought ; 
in  them  justification  must  be  begun  and  consummated.  "  In  this  was 
manifested  the  love  of  God  towards  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only 
begotten  Son  into  the  world  that  we  might  live  through  him.  Herein 
is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son 
to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  "And  ye  know  that  he  was 
manifested  to  take  away  our  sins — He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the 
devil :  for  the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning.  For  this  purpose 
the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  [or  dissolve] 
the  works  of  the  devil."  (l  Jno.  iv.  9,  10,  and  iii.  5,  8.)  Thus  God 
put  him  among  the  people  to  be  their  captain,  and  to  make  war 
against  the  devil,  to  resist  him,  to  destroy  him,  and  dissolve  his  works, 
(as  the  summer  destroys  the  winter  cold,  and  dissolves  the  frost  and 
snow,)  and  lead  them  to  the  victory  ;  thus  he  gave  him  to  the  people 
to  destroy  Satan  and  deliver  them,  although  he  knew  it  would,  and 
necessarily  must,  cost  him  his  life,  as  well  as  all  the  other  sufferings 
which  his  soul  endured  ;  thus  it  pleased  Jehovah  to  bruise  him,  and 
thus  he  made  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin  ;  thus  we  are  justified  by  his 
blood  and  reconciled  by  his  death  ;  and  thus  our  consciences  are  by 
his  blood  purged  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God. 
(Rom.  V.  9,  10  ;  Heb.  ii.  14,  15,  and  ix.  14.)  By  his  knoicledge  shall 
my  righteous  servant  justify  many  ;  [not  by  his  righteousness  imputed 
to  them  ;'\for  he  shall  hear  their  iniquities  ;  [and  they,  believing  in  him 
that  he  hath  overcome,  will  unite  themselves  to  him,  in  the  same  faith 
with  him,  and  overcome  as  he  overcame  ;]   And  he  was  numbered  with 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION,  87 

the  transgressors ;  [he  was  counted  a  malefactor  because  lie  did  the 
work  of  God  which  he  was  sent  to  do  ;]  and  he  hare  the  sin  of  many 
and  made  intercession  for  the  transgressors.  [In  the  Hebrew,  He  headed 
or  intercepted  the  transgressors.']  He  stood  between  them  and  God, 
to  turn  them  from  their  rebellion  and  lead  them  to  God  in  obedience 
and  subjection  to  his  will. 

From  these  few  remarks,  which  I  have  made  the  more  numerous 
because  of  the  great  confidence  of  many  in  this  chapter  for  the  sup- 
port of  justification  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  or  trans- 
ferred to  them  ;  from  these  reflections,  I  say,  it  may  readily  be  seen 
that  it  will  all  bear  a  very  rational  and  consistent  acceptation  without 
yielding  any  support  to  such  a  scheme  ;  yea,  farther,  that  it  actually 
militates  against  that  doctrine,  in  some  parts  directly  in  its  most 
natural  and  literal  construction,  and  the  whole  of  it  indirectly,  because 
where  so  much  is  said  of  Christ  and  his  sufferings,  not  an  explicit 
word  is  said  of  imputing  our  sins  to  him  or  his  righteousness  to  us. 
But  this  is  the  unhappy  ground  of  that  doctrine  all  through  ;  no 
Scripture  names  it,  nay,  so  far  from  it,  that  the  phrase,  '•'•  Righteous- 
ness of  Christ^''''  is  not  once  found  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  much 
less  with  this  predication.  Imputed  to  us,  or  to  any.  Yet,  as  before 
observed,  I  have  no  objection  to  the  phrase,  provided  an  evangelical 
use  be  made  of  it ;  for  it  is  no  more  than  the  righteousness  of  Gody 
which  phrase  is  used,  or  the  righteousness  of  one,  who,  no  doubt,  is 
Christ,  that  very  righteousness  by  which  the  faithful  are  all  justified, 
and  are  righteous  ecen  as  he  is  righteous,  but  not  by  imputing  his 
righteousness  to  them  :  that  predication  is  always  absent  in  that  con- 
nection.    But  farther  : 

The  Lord  caused  the  iniquities  of  us  all  to  meet  in  him,  so  that  he 
bore  them,  by  preparing  him  a  body,  and  sending  him  into  the  world 
as  a  man,  a  servant,  and  subject  to  death  in  that  body,  which  consist- 
ed of  flesh  and  blood  as  ours  do,  and  contained  the  same  appetites, 
passions  and  propensities,  and  by  the  intimate  union  of  which  with 
his  soul,  he  was  exposed  to  every  temptation  to  which  we  are  ex- 
posed :  for  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  be  made  like  those  whom  he 
came  to  save.  "  But  we  see  Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels  for  the  suffering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honour  ; 
that  he,  by  the  grace  of  God,  should  taste  death  for  every  man. 
For  it  became  him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all 
things,  in  bringing  many  sons  to  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of 
theii-  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings.  For  both  he  that  sanc- 
tifieth  and  they  who  are  santified  are  all  of  one :  for  which  cause  h.e 
is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren.  Forasmuch  then  as  the  chil- 
dren are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took  part 
of  the  same ;  that  through  death  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the 
power  of  death  ;  that  is,  the  devil,  and  deliver  them  who  through  fea? 
of  death  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.  For  verily  he 
took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  he  took  on  him  the  seed  of 
Abraham.  Wherefore  in  all  things  it  behoved  him  to  be  made  like 
unto  his  brethren  ;  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest 
in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the 
people.  For  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered,  being  tempted,  he  is 
able  to  succoui- them  that  are  tempted."  (Heb.  ii.  9,  &c.) 


OO  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

This  Scripture  shows  how  he  bore  our  sins  in  the  primary  sense  of 
it — by  taking  on  him  the  same  nature,  not  of  angels  but  of  the  seed 
of  Abraham,  that  wicked  race,  and  being  made  in  all  things  like  his 
brethren,  and  so  being  exposed  to  sin  in  every  point  by  temptation, 
but  never  yielding.  And  these  things  will  agree  with  the  testimony  of 
John  the  Baptist,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the 
gin  of  the  world." 

Now  sin  is  not  a  substance,  but  a  quality,  with  respect  to  its  na- 
ture, and  is  manifested  and  supported  by  actions.  When,  therefore^ 
thes8  actions  are  not  committed,  and  the  nature  whicJi  produces  them 
ia  resisted  and  overcome,  sin  is  taken  away,  or  it  ceases  to  be.  As 
Jesus  Christ  therefore  was  sent  into  the  world  to  be  the  Captain  of 
our  salvation,  and  that  the  world,  through  him,  might  be  saved,  and 
as  his  doctrine  is,  "If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me,"  and  as  he  is  the  fore- 
runner to  whom  we  are  to  look,  standing  in  the  same  place  with  those 
whom  he  came  to  save,  and  having  a  fellow  feeling  of  their  infirmities, 
(Heb.  iv.  15,)  being  beset  on  every  hand  with  the  same  temptations, 
but  resisting  with  such  success  that  he  did  no  sin,  bearing  a  daily  cross 
against  all  the  nature  of  evil,  until  he  at  last  became  triumphant, 
thus  setting  us  an  example  that  we  should  follow  his  steps,  and  at  the 
same  time  giving  all  those  who  receive  him  power  to  become  the  sons 
of  God  by  doing  as  he  did,  he  takes  away  the  sin  of  the  world  and 
destroys  the  workings  of  the  devil  in  men  ;  for  he  was  manifested  that 
he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil.  And  again ;  "  Ye  know 
that  he  was  manifested  to  take  away  our  sins ;  and  in  him  is  no  sin. 
Whosoever  abideth  in  him  sinneth  not :  whosoever  sinneth  hath  not 
seen  him,  neither  known  him."   (1  Jno.  iii.  5,  6.) 

He  also  bore  our  sins  by  feeling  the  keen  and  malignant  opposition 
of  sin  and  sinners  against  God  and  against  himself  as  the  true  minis- 
ter and  defender  of  God's  cause  in  the  world,  while,  in  the  mean 
time,  he  devoted  his  whole  heart  and  life  to  the  accomplishment  of 
that  work  which  he  canae  to  do,  not  once  yielding  to  the  resentment 
or  malice  of  the  wicked.  As  it  is  written,  "  For  the  zeal  of  thine 
house  hath  eaten  me  up  ;  and  the  reproaches  of  them  that  reproach- 
ed thee  are  fallen  upon  me."  (Psa.  Ixix.  9  ;  Rom.  xv.  3.)  Thus  he 
bore  the  reproaches,  the  opposition  and  persecution  of  wicked  men 
and  devils,  which  all  proceeded  from  the  opposition  of  sin  to  God, 
which  led  men  to  hate  God,  through  all  his  life,  until  he  triumphant- 
ly finished  his  course  on  the  cross,  and  in  his  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion. He  endured  the  cross  despising  the  shame  and  is  set  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.  In  thus  bearing  our  sins,  he  had  to 
contend  against  the  carnal  mind,  or  the  enmity  in  himself,  that  is, 
in  his  flesh  ;  for  that  body  which  he  inhabited  consisting  of  the  same 
flesh  and  blood  with  ours,  was  no  less  inclined  to  its  own  ways,  and  no 
more  disposed  to  obey  God,  than  ours.  Accordingly  he  was  tempted 
in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  (Heb.  iv,  15  ;)  and  such  temptations 
could  not  have  existed  without  the  same  nature  to  be  tempted  and 
that  by  the  same  things.  For  it  is  folly  in  the  extreme  to  suppose 
that  any  manor  being  can  be  tempted  when  there  is  no  room  or  place 
in  him  to  receive  the  temptation,  nothing  in  him  to  love  the  bait.  It 
may  indeed  be  objected,  as  it  has  already,  that  when  Christ  is  said 


OP    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION,  89 

to  be  tempted,  it  does  not  mean  that  he  was  affected  or  made  to  suffer 
by  the  temptation,  but  only  that  he  was  reproached  and  persecuted 
to  provoke  and  overcome  him,  and  in  that  way  he  suffered  being  tempt- 
ed ;  or  that  the  temptation  was  offered  to  him,  as  God  is  sometimes 
said  to  be  tempted,  but  cannot  really,  so  as  to  be  affected  by  it.  I 
grant  that  such  language  is  admissible,  and  the  objection  plausible  ; 
but  it  can  be  obviated ;  not  only  because  his  being  tempted  in  all 
points  like  as  we  are,  will  not  admit  an  explication  of  that  kind,  but 
also  because  the  Apostle,  in  stating  that  he  suffered  being  tempted, 
makes  it  a  qualifying  of  him  for  succouring  them  that  are  tempted,  as 
being  experienced  in  the  same  temptations  ;  "  For  in  that  he  himself 
hath  suffered  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succour  them  that  are  tempt- 
ed," (Heb.  ii.  18,)  which  unequivocally  proves  that  the  temptation 
is  the  same  in  him  and  in  them. 

On  the  same  principle,  Jesus  is  spoken  of  as  "having  abolished 
the  enmity  in  his  flesh,"  (Eph.  ii.  15,)  for  thatcould  not  be  abolished 
in  his  flesh,  which  was  not  there.  But  it  will  likely  be  argued  that 
the  enmity  is  explained  by  the  Apostle  in  the  same  sentence,  to  be 
the  law  of  commandments  contained  in  ordinances^  which  stood 
as  a  separating  wall  between  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles.  But  this 
law  of  commandments  was  not  the  enmity,  although  it  was  the  mid- 
dle wall  of  partition  supporting  the  enmity  between  the  Jews  and 
Gentiles  ;  and  was,  by  the  appointment  of  God  himself,  kept  by  the 
Jews,  as  a  shadow  to  represent  in  a  figure  the  destruction  of  sin  in 
the  flesh,  or  the  carnal  mind,  which  is  the  absolute  and  real  enmity. 
This  real  enmity  could  never  be  destroyed  or  abolished,  but  rather 
kept  alive,  by  the  law  of  commandments,  "which  stood  only  in 
meats  and  drinks  and  divers  washings  and  carnal  ordinances,  [justifi- 
cations of  the  flesh,  Greek,]  imposed  on  them  [who  lived  after  the 
flesh]  until  the  time  of  reformation."  (Heb.  ix.  10.)  But  this 
abolishing  of  the  real  enmity  remained  for  Jesus  to  effectuate  in  his 
flesh,  who  could  do  that  which  none  could  ever  do  before  him,  by 
condemning  sin  in  the  flesh  where  it  hath  its  seat.  "  For  God,  send- 
ing his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  on  account  of  sin, 
[because  it  ought  to  be  removed,]  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh,  that 
which  the  law  could  not  do,  because  it  was  weak  throu.gh  the  flesh  ; 
that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us  who  walk 
not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit."  "  Wherefore  then  serveth 
the  law  .''  It  was  added  because  of  transgressions,  till  the  seed  should 
come  to  whom  the  promise  was  made,  and  it  was  ordained  by  angels 
in  the  hand  of  a  mediator."  This  then  is  the  seed  who,  having 
abolished  the  enmity  in  his  flesh,  took  away  the  exhibition  of  the 
enmity,  the  law  of  commandments  in  ordinances.  For  when  the  real 
enmity  was  once  destroyed  there  was  no  longer  any  need  of  keeping 
up  its  destruction,  in  effigy,  as  if  it  yet  held  its  place.  "  And  that 
he  might  reconcile  both  [Jews  and  Gentiles]  to  God  in  one  body,  by 
the  cross,  [which  he  bore  all  his  life,]  having  slain  the  enmity  thereby, 
he  came  and  preached  peace  to  them  that  were  far  off,  and  to  them 
that  were  nigh."  (Eph  ii.  16,  17.)  For  Jesus,  having  once  slain 
or  abolished  the  enmity  in  himself,  that  is,  in  his  flesh,  was  a  proper 
leader  and  forerunner  of  his  people  to  whom  they  may  all  look,  in 
one  body,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles  ;  because  there  is  now  no  parti- 


90  OP    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

tion  except  tlie  cross  of  Christ ;  at  wHcli  indeed  the  iinbelieving  Jews 
stumble,  and  which  the  Gentiles  count  foolishness,  but  to  those  who 
are  saved,  whether  Greeks  or  Jews,  it  is  the  power  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  of  God,  and  by  which  the  world  is  crucified  to  them  and  they 
to  the  world.  But  thus  he  bore  our  sins.  And  to  these  things  agree 
also  the  words  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  when  speaking  of  Christ  as  enter- 
ing on  the  work  of  salvation,  (lix.  16,  and  Ixiii.  5.)  "  And  he  saw 
that  there  was  no  man,  and  wondered  that  there  was  no  intercessor  ; 
therefore  his  arm  brought  salvation  unto  him,  and  his  righteousness  it 
sustained  him."  And  again ;  "  And  I  looked  and  there  was  none  to 
help  ;  and  I  wondered  that  there  was  none  to  uphold ;  therefore 
mine  own  arm  brought  salvation  unto  me  ;  and  my  fury  it  upheld 
me."  Thus  he  began  the  salvation  in  himself,  and  was  made  perfect 
through  sufferings,  as  the  Apostle  states.  For  he  trod  the  wine  press 
alone,  (not,  was  trodden  in  it,)  and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with 
him.     Thus  he  bore  our  sins. 

And  in  the  contest  between  his  faith  of  obedience  to  God,  support- 
ed by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  him,  [for  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  dwelt 
in  him  bodily,]  and  the  enmity  or  nature  of  the  flesh  supported  by 
the  malice  of  wicked  men  and  devils  let  loose  on  him,  he  suffered 
what  he  did  in  the  garden,  when  he  said,  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sor- 
rowful even  unto  death,  and  fell  on  his  face  and  prayed,  saying,  0, 
my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  :  nevertheless 
not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt.  And  there  appeared  an  angel  unto 
him  from  heaven  strengthening  him.  And  being  in  an  agony  he 
prayed  more  earnestly,  and  his  sweat  was  as  it  were  great  drops  of 
blood  falling  down  to  the  ground."  (Matt.  xxvi.  38,  39.  Luke  xxii. 
43, 44.)  And  thus  the  malice  of  earth  and  hell  pursued  him  while  the 
zeal  of  his  Father's  house  consumed  him,  until  on  the  cross  he  ap- 
peared forsaken  of  God,  to  put  the  matter  to  a  fair  and  last  trial,  that 
he  might  prove  out  his  faith  in  God,  and  his  Sonship.  "  Now  from 
the  sixth  hour  there  was  darkness  over  all  the  land  until  the  ninth 
hour.  And  about  the  ninth  hour  Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  say- 
ing, Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani !  that  is  to  say.  My  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ^  and  when  he  had  cried  again  with  a 
loud  voice,  he  yielded  up  the  ghost."  (Matt,  xxvii.  45,  46,  50.) 
Thus  he  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.  And  thus  he  escaped  from 
the  hands  of  his  enemies.  He  spent  his  life,  but  saved  his  soul  to  life 
eternal.  Thus  he  bore  our  sins  through  the  contest,  and  in  his  own 
body  on  the  tree,  resisting  to  blood,  striving  against  sin,  until  he 
came  off  victorious,  having  never  yielded  to  sin,  and  now  ministers 
the  same  spirit  to  all  who  follow  him  :  "  Foi-  if  any  man  have  not  the 
spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of  his.''''  Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was 
also  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not 
robbery  to  be  equal  with,  or  as*  God  ;  but  made  himself  of  no  repu- 
tation, and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in 
the  likeness  of  men ;  and,  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he 
humbled  himself  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the 
death   of   the    cross.      Wherefore  God    hath  highly   exalted    him, 


*  For  the  translation,  as  God,  see  Doddridge's  note  on  this  text. 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  91 

and  given  him  a   name  wMcli  is  above  every  name."      (Phil.  ii.  5 
to  9.) 

For  a  farther  elucidation  of  his  bearing  our  sins,  we  may  remark, 
that  he  bore  with  the  weaknesses  and  infirmities  of  his  people  to 
help  them  on  their  way,  and  encourages  them  to  do  the  same  to- 
wards one  another.  "  We  then  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the 
infirmities  of  the  weak,— and  not  to  please  ourselves.  Let  every 
one  of  us  please  his  neighbour  for  his  good  to  edification.  For  even 
Christ  pleased  not  himself ;  but  as  it  is  written,  '  The  reproaches 
of  them  that  reproached  thee  fell  on  me.'  "  "  Now  the  God  of 
patience  and  consolation  grant  you  to  be  like-minded  toward  one 
another,  according  to  Christ  Jesus."  "  Bear  ye  one  another's 
burdens  and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ."  "  And  be  ye  kind  one  to 
another ;  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even  as  God  in 
Christ*  hath  forgiven  you."  (Rom.  xv.  1,  &c.;  Gal,  vi.  2;  Eph.  iv. 
32.) 

This  language  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  "  Surely  he  hath  borne  our 
griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows,"  though  by  the  words  which  follow, 
"  Yet  we  did  esteem  him  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted,"  it 
would  naturally  be  understood  to  relate  to  the  proper  and  true  sense 
of  his  bearing  our  iniquities,  is  by  the  Evangelist  Matthew  applied  to 
the  deliverances  which  he  wrought  for  the  people,  while  residing 
among  them.  "  When  the  even  was  come,  they  brought  unto  him 
many  that  were  possessed  with  devils  ;  and  he  cast  out  the  spirits  with 
his  word,  and  healed  all  that  were  sick  ;  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which 
was  spoken  by  Esaias  the  prophet,  saying,  Himself  took  our  infirmities, 
and  bare  our  sicknesses."  (Mat.  viii.  16,  17.)  This  was  no  doubt 
therefore  included  in  his  bearing  our  sins  in  the  more  emphatical  and 
radical  sense,  being  a  fruit  of  it,  and  helps  to  show  how  he  bears  our 
sins  and  iniquities — that  he  bears  them  away  as  the  scape-goat  under 
the  law  bore  away  the  sins  of  Israel  never  to  be  seen  again.  But  he 
also  suffered  for  our  sins.  This  part  is  greatly  elucidated  by  what 
has  just  been  said  ;  for  his  bearing  our  sins,  and  suffering  for  them,  or 
for  us,  are  too  intimately  connected  to  be  treated  of  altogether  dis- 
tinctly ;  while  he  bore,  he  suffered,  and  thus  he  became  "  a  man  of 
sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief;  for  he  was  despised  and  rejected 
of  men."     But  this  has  been  already  expounded 

But  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews,  as  quoted  above,  shows  particularly 
what  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  suffer — that  he  might  be  made  per- 
fect, a  perfect  captain  and  leader  of  his  people  well  acquainted  by  ex- 
perience with  all  their  sufferings  and  trials,  an  approved  leader  who 
could  not  be  foiled  with  temptation  so  as  to  commit  sin,  in  whom  the 
people  might  safely  trust.  "  For  it  became  him,  for  whom  are  all 
things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  to  glory,  to 

*'Ev  XpiiTTCJ  the  phrase  here  used  by  the  Apostle,  is  so  correctly  and  uni- 
versally translated  in  Christ,  that  I  know  not  how  our  translators  thought  of 
rendering  it  for  Chrisfs  sake,  unless  to  compel  the  Scriptures  to  sanction  a  pre- 
concerted scheme,  of  which  they  were  in  full  possession,  but  had  no  Scripture 
to  support  il;  perhaps  they  thought  it  right  so  to  do.  Dr.  Doddridge  and  Scott 
have  rendered  the  phrase  in  Christ;  but  as  though  predetermined  to  support  the 
ingrafted  and  popular  scheme  by  this  text,  have  aidei,  and  for  his  sake. 


92  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

make  tlie  captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings."  "  For 
in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered,  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succour 
them  that  are  tempted."  "  For  we  have  not  an  high  priest  who  can- 
not be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities  ;  but  was  tempted  in 
all  points  like  as  we  are,  yet  withoixt  sin.  Let  us  therefore  come  bold- 
ly to  the  throne  of  his  grace,  that  we  may  obtain  mercy,  and  find 
grace  to  help  in  time  of  need."  Thus  also  Jesus  Christ  is  a  sure  cor- 
ner-stone, well  tried,  whereon  the  Church  is  built,  a  spiritual  house, 
as  it  is  written ;  "  Behold  I  lay  in  Zion,  for  a  foundation  stone,  a  tried 
stone,  a  precious  corner-stone,  a  sure  foundation  ;  he  that  believeth 
shall  not  make  haste."  Or  as  the  Apostle  Peter  hath  it,  by  an  exact 
quotation  of  the  Septuagint  Greek,  and  by  no  means  contrary  to  the 
Hebrew  ;  "  And  he  that  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  confounded." 
He  will  trust  to  his  foundation,  or  leader,  and  not  go  before  him. 
(See  Heb.  ii.  10,  18,  and  iv.  15,  16  ;  Isa.  xrviii.  16  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  6.) 

But  the  above  Scriptures  state  that  Jesus  is  the  intercessor,  through 
whom  we  obtain  deliverance,  that  he  made  intercession  for  the  trans- 
gressors, that  he  made  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  In- 
tercessor,isonlyanotherwordto  mean, mediator,  and  wehave  seen  how 
he  maketh  intercession,  or  mediation  for  the  transgressors, by  bearing 
or  taking  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  and  the  sins  of  those  who  fol- 
low him,  as  the  Lord's  servant,  as  again  written  :  "  Behold  my  ser- 
vant whom  I  uphold  ;  mine  elect,  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth ; 
I  have  put  my  spirit  upon  him  :  he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  to  the 
Gentiles.  He  shall  not  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  voice  to  be 
heard  in  the  street.  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  the  smok- 
ing flax  shall  he  not  quench  :  he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  to  truth. 
He  shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged,  till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the 
earth:  and  the  isles  [or  nations]  shall  wait  for  his  law."  "  And  in 
his  name  shall  the  Gentiles  trust."  (Isa.  xlii.  1,4;  Matt.  xii.  21.)  Again: 
when  the  cause  of  enmity  is  removed  the  result  will  be  reconciliation. 
Sin,  therefore,  which  is  the  cause  of  enmity  and  hindrance  to  recon- 
ciliation, being  taken  away  by  Jesus  Christ,  the  way  is  opened  through 
him,  tht  new  and  living  way  which  he  hath  consecrated  through  the  vail, 
that  is  to  say,  his  flesh,  for  reconciliation  to  take  place,  according  to 
the  Scripture  which  saith,  "  that  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the 
world  to  himself;  not  imputing  their  trespasses  to  them."  (2  Cor.  v. 
19.)  It  is  therefore  the  privilege  of  every  one  to  be  reconciled  to 
God,  by  believing  in  Christ,  and  taking  up  his  cross  and  following 
him,  as  he  gave  the  example.  For  in  this  way,  and  this  alone,  God 
was  at  all  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  himself,  and  not  imputing 
their  trespasses  to  them  :  because  he  is  sure  to  impute  sin  or  right- 
eousness wherever  the  one  or  the  other  is  found;  for  it  is  Gospel  doc- 
trine, that,  "we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ ; 
that  every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body,  according  to 
that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad;"  (2  Cor.  v.  10;)  not 
according  to  what  he  hath  believed  or  had  imputed  to  him,  as  being 
done  by  another.  As  therefore  sin,  the  true  cause  of  enmity,  is  found 
in  men,  there  the  change  must  take  place.  "  Now  then,  we  are  am- 
bassadors for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us  :  we  pray 
you,  in  Christ's  stead,  [or  on  the  behalf  of  Christ,]  be  ye  reconciled 
to  God."  (2  Cor.  v.  20.) 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  93 

There  is  therefore  no  support  to  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ,  in  the  above  train  of  argumen- 
tation, from   those  Scriptures  which   are   alleged  ;  because    except- 
ing that  he  is  peculiarly  the  forerunner,  the  leader  and  the  head, 
having  in  all  things  the  foreway  and  the  pre-eminence,  what  he  hath 
done,  he  hath  done  to  leave  us  an  example  that  we  should  follow  his 
steps,  instead  of  doing  it  to  be  imputed  to  us,  to  release  us  from  doing 
the  same.     Did  he  suffer  for  us  ?     We  are  called  to  suffer  for  him  ; 
"  For  unto  you  it  is  given  in  the  behalf  of  Christ,  not  only  to  believe 
on  him,  but  also  to  suffer  for  his  sake."  (Phil.  i.  29.)     Did  he  suffer 
for  sins .''  or  rather  on  account  of  sin,  and  for  doing  well.     We  are 
called  to  do  the  same.     "For  it  is  better,  if  the  will  of  God  be  so, 
that  ye  suffer  for  well-doing  than  for  evil-doing.      For  Christ  also 
hath  suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  [or,  on  account  of  sin 
the  just  on  account  of,  or  by  the  unjust,  as  the  connection  also  shows,] 
that  he  might  bring  [Greek,  lead]  us  to  God."     ''Forasmuch  then 
as  Christ  hath   suffered   for  us  in  the  flesh,  arm  yourselves  likewise 
wilh  the  same  mind^  for  he  that  hath  suffered  in  the  flesh  hath  ceased 
from    sin."    (1  Pet.  iii.  17,  18,  and  iv.  1.)     Was  he   despised  and 
rejected  of  men.''     So  are  his  people.     "Being  defamed  we  entreat: 
we  are  made  as  the  filth  of  the  world,  the  off-scouring  of  all  things 
unto  this  day."     "And  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men  for  my  name's 
sake."     "If  the  world  hate  you,  ye  know  that  it  hated  me  before  it 
hated  you.     If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world  would  love  his  own  : 
but  because  ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the 
world,  therefore  the  world  hateth  you."  (1  Cor.  iv.  13  ;  Luke  xxi.  17  ; 
Jno.  XV.  18,  19.)     Was  he  persecuted  by  the  wicked,  for  the  work 
of  God  in  which  he  was  engaged  .''     So  are  his  people.     "  Remember 
the  word  that  I  said  unto  you  ;   The  servant  is  not  greater  than  his 
Lord.      If  they  have  persecuted  nte,  they  will  also  persecute  ijou ;   if 
they  have  kept  my  saying,  they  will  keep  yours  also.     But  all  these 
things  will  they  do  unto  you  for  my  name's  sake,  because  they  know 
not  him  that  sent  me."     "Persecuted  but  not  forsaken."     "  I  now 
rejoice,"  saith  Paul,  "in  my  sufferings  for  you,  and  fill  up  that  which 
is  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  my  flesh  for  his  body's  sake, 
which  is  the  Church."  (Jno.  xv.  20,  21  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  9  ;   Col.  i.  24.) 
Thus  he  and  his  people  suffer  together  in  the  same  cause.     Was  he 
a  man  of  sorrow  and  acquainted  with  grief.?     So  are  his  people; 
"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  shall  weep  and  lament,  but 
the  world  shall  rejoice  :  and  ye  shall  be  sorrowful,  but  your  sorrow 
shall  be  turned  into  joy."   (Jno.  xvi.  20.)     Thus  he  also  shall  see  of 
the  travail  of  his  soul^  and  shall  be  satisfied^  who  for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  hath  set  down  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.     Had  he  the  iniquities  and  sins  of 
all  laid  on  him  .?     So  do  his  people  bear  the  sins  of  the  world  and 
suffer  under  them.     Ezekiel,  in  vision,  bore  the  iniquity  of  the  house 
of  Israel  and  Judah,  and  the  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  that 
nation.    (Chap.  iv.  4.)     The   prophet  Daniel  bore   the   sins  of  his 
people  before  the  Lord  and  confessed  them,  (Dan.  ix.  20  :)    and  so 
of  other  prophets.     And  Aaron  bore  the  sins  and  the  judgment  of  the 
people  of  Israel  in  the  office  of  high  priest ;  but  not  the  punishment 
of  their  sins. 


94  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

But  as  these  examples  pertain  to  a  former  dispensation,  and  will  be- 
considered  as  types  only,  we  shall  attend  to  some  of  the  Apostle's- 
language  and  exercise,  in  addition  to  what  has  been  shown  a  little 
above,  "Now  while  Paul  waited  for  them  [Silas  and  Timotheus]  at 
Athens,  his  spirit  was  stirred  in  him,  when  he  saw  the  city  wholly 
given  to  idolatry."  Why  was  his  spirit  stirred  ?  Because  he  felt  the 
burden  of  their  idolatry  ;  as  he  also  felt  the  unbelief  of  the  Jews  at 
Corinth  ;  "And  when  Silas  and  Timotheus  were  come  from  Macedonia, 
Paul  was  pressed  in  spirit,  and  testified  to  the  Jews  that  Jesus  was 
Christ."  (Acts  xvii.  16,  and  xviii.  5.)  But  not  only  in  these  par- 
ticular instances  did  he  bear  the  burden  of  the  sin  of  mankind,  and 
suffer  on  account  of  their  sins,  that  he  might  lead  them  to  God,  but 
this  was  the  spirit  and  the  work  of  his  ministry.  "  Knowing,  there- 
fore, the  terror  of  the  Lord,  we  persuade  men  :  but  we  are  made 
manifest  to  God  ;  and  I  trust  also  are  made  manifest  in  your  con- 
sciences." "  For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  ;  because  we  thus 
judge  that  if  one  died  for  all  then  were  all  dead."  "My  little 
children,  of  whom  I  travail  in  birth  again  until  Christ  be  formed  in 
you."  (2  Cor.  v.  11,  14  ;  Gal.  iv.  19.)  But  we  need  not  presume 
to  instance  all  the  cases.  All  the  apostles'  labours  and  sufferings, 
and  all  the  zealous  endeavours  which  they  spent  for  the  salvation  of 
men,  jfrove  them  to  have  been  possessed  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  whom 
zeal  for  his  Father's  house  consumed,  and  who  spent  his  life  for  the 
salvation  of  men.  For  did  Jesus  lay  down  his  life  for  us  ?  We  are 
called  also  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  him  and  for  one  another.  "  For 
whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  and  whosoever  will  lose  his 
life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it.''  "For  thy  sake  we  are  killed  all  the 
day  long  ;  we  are  accoimted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter."  "In  him 
we  have  known  love  ;  [in  the  Greek,]  because  he  laid  down  his  life 
for  us  ;  and  we  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren."  "  Ye 
shall  indeed  drink  of  my  cup  and  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I 
am  baptized  with."  (Matt.  xvi.  25  ;  Ro.  viii.  36  ;  1  Jno.  iii.  16  ; 
Matt.  XX.  23.) 

Christ  Jesus,  therefore,  is  our  forerunner,  our  leader  and  our  ex- 
ample, instead  of  doing  what  he  did  as  our  surety,  to  cover  our 
sins,  or  to  justify  us  by  imputing  to  us  any  of  his  doings  or  suffer- 
ings. So  far  from  dying  to  impute  his  dying  to  us,  that  we  might 
not  die,  he  died  to  set  us  the  example,  and  to  introduce  us  into  the 
same  death,  that  we  may  have  fellowship  with  him  in  his  sufferings 
and  in  his  reward.  "Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  bap- 
tized into  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized  into  his  death  ?  Therefore 
we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death  ;  that  like  as  Christ 
was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so 
we  should  walk  in  newness  of  life — for  in  that  he  died,  he  died 
unto  sin  once  ;  but  in  that  he  liveth  he  liveth  unto  God.  Likewise 
reckon  ye  also  yourselves  to  be  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive 
unto  God  through  Jesvis  Christ  our  Lord."  This  is  the  true  re- 
sult of  the  whole  matter  with  all  true  believers,  as  well  as  with  those 
to  whom  the  Apostle  wrote."     (Rom.  vi.  3,  &c.) 

But  it  may  be  argued  by  some,  that  God  himself  punished  his 
own  Son,  and  that  by  that  punishment  he  suffered  death  in  the  most 
proper   and   material   point  of  view.      And   that   God   would    not 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  95 

afflict  him  in  any  otiier  cliaracter  than  that  of  a  surety,  or  a  substi- 
tute, for  he  did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth.  Yet 
thus  it  is  written  :  "  We  did  esteem  him  [pay  some  attention  to  him] 
stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted — yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to 
bruise  him;  he  hath  put  him  to  grief:  when  thou  shalt  make  his 
soul  an  offering  for  sin,  he  shall  see  his  seed."  "  Awake,  0  sword, 
against  my  shepherd,  and  against  the  man  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts:  smite  the  Shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  he  scat- 
tered." "  For  it  is  written,  I  will  smite  the  Shepherd,  and  the  sheep 
of  the  flock  shall  be  scattered."  (Isa.  liii.  4,  10.  Zech.  xiii.  7, 
Matt.  xxvi.  31.)  These  things  God  is  said  to  have  done  ;  hence  it  is 
urged  that  Christ  did  live  and  suffer  as  our  surety,  that  his  righteous- 
ness of  obedience  and  suffering  might  be  imputed  to  us  for  our  justi- 
fication. 

To  obviate  these  arguments  it  is  insisted  that  God  is  sometimes 
said  to  do  that  which  he  doth  not  interpose  to  prevent,  because  in 
some  cases  God  is  said  to  do  that  which  is  afterwards  ascribed  to  ano- 
ther very  opposite  cause.  Thus  it  is  said  that  God  hardened  Pha- 
raoh^s  heart,  and  again,  that  Pharaoh  hardened  his  own  heart.  Again, 
it  is  said  that  God  moved  David  to  number  Israel,  "  And  the  anger 
of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Israel,  and  he  moved  David  against 
them  to  say.  Go  number  Israel  and  Judah."  But  in  another  place 
it  is  said  that  Satan  did  it;  "  And  Satan  stood  up  against  Israel  and 
provoked  David  to  number  Israel."  (2  Saml.  xxiv.  1.  1  Chron.  xxi. 
1.)  In  this  manner  it  is  insisted  that  God  is  said  to  smite,  or  bruise 
his  Son,  and  to  smite  the  Shepherd,  when  in  reality  the  devil  and 
wicked  men  did  it  all,  but  God  did  not  interpose  by  any  absolute  or 
coercive  power  to  prevent  it.  And  this  reasoning  cannot  well  be 
overturned  ;  for  we  cannot  believe  that  God  and  the  devil  join  issue 
in  the  same  mind,  so  that  the  devil  should  aim  to  do  the  will  of  God ; 
for  what  concord  hath  Christ  ivith  Beliall  And  that  the  devil  and  his 
agents  did  this  deed  is  not  to  be  denied.  For  Satan  put  it  into  the 
heart  of  Judas  to  betray  him;  and  Him  ye  have  taken,  said  the  Apostle, 
and  by  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain. 

But  this  is  not  all  which  ought  to  be  advanced  for  the  elucidation 
of  this  subject.  The  sufferings  which  he  endured  by  the  hands  of 
the  wicked,  from  first  to  last,  were  laid  on  him  because  of  his  at- 
tachment to  the  Father ;  The  zeal  of  thine  house  hath  eaten  me  up ; 
,^nd  although  the  Father  was  not  unaware  of  the  consequence,  he  did 
not  in  the  least  remit  the  requisition  of  obedience  and  a  full  perform- 
ance of  what  he  had  undertaken.  For  it  was  not  only  expedient,  but 
indispensably  necessary,  that  Jesus,  having  undertaken  to  reveal  the 
Father,  and  to  set  an  example  of  self-denial  and  obedience  for  men, 
should  not  fail.  He  shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged  till  he  have  set 
judgment  in  the  earth.  And  it  was  entirely  proper  and  equal  in  the 
Father,  to  require  of  him  all  that  punctuality  and  rigid  adherence  to 
the  truth  and  character  of  God  which  were  necessary  to  perfectly 
glorify  God,  manifest  the  contrast  between  the  way  of  God  and  that 
of  fallen  man,  and  secure  the  salvation  of  the  human  race.  Thus  he 
was  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted;  and  thus  Jehovah  was 
pleased  to  bruise  him  ;  he  hath  put  him  to  grief;  and  thus  he  made  his 
.soul  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  by  sending  him  into  the  world  to  execute  that 


96  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

purpose  and  to  accomplisli  that  work  in  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit, 
•which  could  not  fail  to  excite  the  indignation  of  those  lost  beings 
whom  he  came  to  save,  until  they  took  his  life.  Thus  the  Shepherd 
was  smitten  of  God  ;  and  the  work  was  so  strange,  and  the  trial  so 
great,  that  the  sheep  of  the  flock  were  scattered.  God  therefore  did 
not  braise  his  Son  absolutely  or  directly,  but  indirectly  and  by  con- 
sequence— he  did  not  take  vengeance  on  him  for  the  crimes  of  others. 
And  an  attention  to  the  connection  of  the  words  of  Zechariah  will 
show  that  if  he  took  vengeance  on  the  Shepherd,  he  also  did  on  the 
people;  "  Smite  the  Shepherd  and  the  sheep  shall  Jdc  scattered; 
and  I  will  turn  my  hand  upon  the  little  ones  ;"  and  give  them  a  por- 
tion of  the  same  smiting.  And  so  it  came  to  pass  ;  for  as  Jesus  was 
persecuted  to  death  so  were  his  people  in  the  same  cause  and  by  the 
same  sword ;  as  it  is  written,  "  For  thy  sake  we  are  killed  all  the 
daylong;  we  are  accounted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter."  (Rom. 
viii.  36.) 

"  Awake,  O  sword,  against  my  Shepherd,  and  against  the  man  my 
fellow,  [Heb.  the  man  next  to  ?«e,  or  my  neighbour,  who  takes  part 
with  me,  and  not  with  the  world,]  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  It  hath 
long  been  taught  that  this  was  the  sword  of  justice^  or  justice  itself 
spending  its  fury  on  the  meek  Lamb  of  God,  for  crimes  not  his 
own.  But  to  say  he  was  slain  by  the  sword  of  justice,  or  by  justice 
considered  as  a  sword,  is  to  detach  all  criminality  from  his  mur- 
deri  for  what  justice  doeth  must  be  at  least  innocent.  But  some- 
thing very  different  from  justice  is  the  sword  of  the  Lord.  "  De- 
liver my  soul  from  the  wicked  who  are  thy  sword  :  from  men  who 
are  thy  hand."  (Psm.  xvii.  13,  14.)  Never  was  there  a  more  un- 
just sword  than  that  which  slew  the  innocent  Saviour.  His  most  in- 
veterate enemies  could  not  convict  him  of  sin,  nor  lay  any  just  accu- 
sation against  him  ;  neither  did  they  suppose  any  such  thing  in  him 
as  suretyship  or  imputed  guilt ;  but  slew  him  merely  in  the  rage  of 
their  malice  against  God,  and  in  the  ignorance  of  his  true  character, 
which  indeed  they  refused  to  know.  Tliei]  haled  him  wilhont  cause. 
Well  therefore  did  the  apostles,  on  every  occasion,  charge  his  deatk 
on  the  wickedness  of  the  Jews,  saying  :  "  Ye  denied  the  Holy  and 
the  Just  One,  and  killed  the  prince  of  life  ;  of  whom  ye  have 
been  now  the  betrayers  and  murderers."  "  Him,  being  delivered 
by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have 
taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain."  (Acts  ii. 
23.) 

But  these  last  words  will  no  doubt  be  claimed  by  the  abettors  of 
the  decrees  of  God,  as  appointing  and  ordaining  every  thing  to  come 
to  pass  just  as  it  does,  and  of  justification  by  imputed  righteousness, 
as  proving  those  points.  Mi7n,  beimj  delioered  by  ihe  deJenninale  coun- 
sel and  foreknow ledye  of  Gnd,  they  understand  as  teaching  that  he 
was  delivered  up  to  death  by  the  determinate  counsel  of  God.  But 
such  a  construction  only  shows  the  traditionary  bias  of  their  minds, 
and  their  unacquaintance  wHh  divine  truth  in  its  connection.  It  was 
not  to  death  that  he  was  delivered  by  the  determinate  counsel  and 
foreknowledge  of  God,  but  to  be  a  leader  and  example  to  the  people 
to  lead  them  to  God,  and  so  redeem  them  from  all  iniquity,  while 
they  should  follow  him,  laying  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  97 

doth  SO  easily  beset,  and  run  witli  patience  tte  race  set  before  tbem, 
looking  to  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  [Greek,  the  chief  leader  and 
perfecter']  of  faith,  being  the  first  who  lived  up  to  the  true  faith,  and 
first  obtained  its  end.  This  is  the  decree  of  which  I  spoke  before  ; 
That  God  did  decree  in  direct  and  absolute  terms,  not  to  be  reversed, 
to  send  a  deliverer  to  redeem  mankind  from  their  fall.  But  when  he 
came  in  this  lovely  character,  they  hated  him  without  cause  ;  for  the 
sake  of  God  who  dwelt  in  him,  and  whose  holiness  burnt  against  their 
evil  nature,  so  that  the  reproaches  of  them  that  reproached  God  fell 
on  him  ;  therefore  they  took  him  and  with  wicked  hands  crucified  and 
slew  him. 

The  foreknowledge  of  God  no  doubt  comprehended  what  would 
be  the  result  of  his  being  thus  set  forth  ;  but  that  was  no  reason  why 
God  should  not  do  that  which  was  necessary  to  be  done  for  man's 
recovery  and  God's  good  pleasure  and  glory,  seeing  the  Son  of  God 
was  also  willing  to  come,  saying  :  "  Lo,  I  come,  in  the  volume  of  the 
book  it  is  written  of  me,  I  delight  do  thy  will,  0  my  God ;  yea,  thy 
law  is  written  in  my  heart.  I  have  preached  righteousness  in  the  great 
congregation  :  lo,  I  have  not  refrained  my  lips,  0  Lord  thou  knowest 
it."  (Psa.  xl.  17,  IS,  19.)  Thus  he  was  delivered,  or  set  forth  to 
view,  according  to  the  Greek  text,  and  thus  evilly  was  he  entreated 
when  he  came. 

This  subject  is  farther  illustrated  by  the  parable  of  the  household- 
er, who  planted  a  vineyard  and  let  it  out  to  husbandmen,  and  sent  his 
servants  in  vain,  who  at  two  diff'erent  times  were  some  of  them  killed, 
and  the  rest  stoned  or  beaten  ;  "  But  last  of  all  he  sent  unto  them  his 
son,  saying,  They  will  reverence  my  son.  But  when  the  husbandmen 
saw  the  son  they  said  among  themselves.  This  is  the  heir  ;  Come,  let 
us  kill  him,  and  let  us  seize  on  his  inheritance.  And  they  caught  him 
and  cast  him  out  and  slew  him."  (Matt.  xxi.  33,  &c.)  This  parable 
Jesus  applied  to  the  Jews,  concerning  himself  as  the  stone  which  the 
builders  rejected,  and  yet  it  is  made  the  head  of  the  corner. 

The  following  words  also  will  no  doubt  be  considered  as  favouring 
the  doctrine  of  justification  by  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ, 
where  the  people  are  said  to  be  gathered  against  Christ ;  "  For  to  do 
whatsoever  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel  determined  before  to  be  done." 
(Acts  iv.  28.)  The  argument  is,  that  God  determined  that  he  should 
suffer  these  things  as  our  substitute  or  surety  ;  for  there  was  no  cause 
in  him  to  expose  him  to  such  sufferings,  being  holy  and  harmless.  But 
as  no  mention  is  made  of  any  imputation  of  our  sins  to  him,  or  of  his 
righteousness  to  us,  it  would  be  forced  and  unnatural  to  infer  the  one 
or  the  other  from  these  words.  Not  denying  that  God  saw  it  neces- 
sary that  Christ  should  die  ;  as  it  is  written  :  '■'■  Ought  not  Christ  to 
have  suffered  these  things^  and  to  enter  into  his  glory  V  according  to  what 
we  have  before  spoken  of  the  necessity  of  his  death.  The  force  of 
this  text  appears  to  be,  that  the  things  had  come  to  pass  according 
to  what  the  Spirit  of  God  by  the  prophet  had  foretold  ;  his  counsel 
had  seen  and  his  hand  had  described  by  the  hand-writing  of  the  pro- 
phet in  whom  his  counsel  was.  And  this  is  the  primary  sense  of  the  word 
■cJpoopi'^w  [pro-orizo]  the  Greek  wordhere  used,  according  to  its  explana- 
tion by  prins  dejinio,  to  define  or  determine  beforehand.  "  Who  by  the 
mouth  of  thy  servant  David  hast  said.  Why  did  the  heathen  rage  and 


98  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

the  people  imagine  vain  ttings  ?  The  kings  of  the  earth  stood  up, 
and  the  rulers  were  gathered  together  against  the  Lord  and  against 
his  Christ.  For,  of  a  truth  against  thy  holy  child  Jesus,  whom  thou 
hast  anointed,  both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles,  and 
the  people  of  Israel  were  gathered  together,  for  to  do  whatsoever  thy 
hand  and  thy  counsel  [by  the  said  David]  determined  before  to  be 
done."  And  precisely  in  this  manner  the  apostle  Peter  hath  ex- 
pounded the  same  event,  on  a  former  occasion  ;  "  But  those  things 
which  God  before  had  showed  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets,  that 
Christ  should  suffer,  he  hath  so  fulfilled."  (Acts  iii.  18.) 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE      SUBJECT    CONTINUED,     IN     RELATION     TO     THE     LEGAL     SACRI- 
FICES   AND    OTHER    MATTERS. 

But  other  arguments  are  used  in  defence  of  being  justified  by  the 
imputed  righteousness  of  Christ.  One  is,  that  the  sacrifices  un- 
der the  law  were  typical  of  Christ ;  and  hence  it  is  concluded,  that 
Christ  is  our  substitute,  and  that  our  sins  were  imputed  to  him.  But 
this  argument  is  founded  in  error,  common  as  it  is,  and  long  as  it  has 
been  sanctioned  by  tradition.  Where  do  we  read  in  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, that  those  sacrifices  typified  Jesus  Christ,  any  more  than  other 
men  }  Or  what  was  to  be  seen  in  that  service  peculiarly  applicable 
to  him  ? 

That  the  law  was  typical,  as  having  a  shacTow  of  good  things  to 
come,  is  taught  clearly  enough.  And  that  the  high  priest  was  typi- 
cal of  Christ,  is  not  to  be  doubted;  "For  the  law  maketh  men  high 
priests  who  have  infirmities ;  but  the  word  of  the  oath,  which  was 
since  the  law,  maketh  the  Son,  who  is  consecrated  for  evermore." 
(Heb.  vii.  28,  and  other  places.)  Also  that  the  most  holy  place,  into 
which  the  high  priest  went  once  every  year,  not  without  blood,  was 
typical  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  where  Christ  reigns,  will  be  grant- 
ed ;  "  For  Christ  is  not  entered  into  the  holy  places  made  with  hands, 
which  are  the  figures  of  the  true  ;  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear 
in  the  presence  of  God  for  us."  (Heb.  ix.  24.)  In  many  other 
respects  the  law  was  typical  of  things  in  the  Gospel  kingdom.  But 
all  these  will  not  prove  that  the  sacrifices  were  typical  of  Christ,  or 
represented  him.  As  Aaron  the  high  priest  was  typical  of  Christ,  it 
may  not  be  improper  to  conclude  that  the  sacrifice  which  he  offered 
was  typical  of  Christ,  in  a  secondary  view,  when  "  He  gave  himself  for 
us  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God  for  a  sweet  smelling  savour," 
and  when  "  through  the  eternal  Spirit  he  offered  himself  without 
spot  to  God."  (Eph.  V.  2;  Heb.  ix.  14.)  What  I  mean  by  this 
sacrifice  being  typical  of  Christ  in  a  secondary  view  is,  that  it  was  im- 
mediately the  ofiering  of  the  priest  as  the  leader  of  the  people,  as 


OP    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  99 

Christ  offered  himself  once,  as  the  leader  of  his  people.  For  the  law 
made  no  provision  for  the  priests,  more  than  for  others,  to  offer  them- 
selves to  God,  holy  and  living  sacrifices  ;  it  remained  for  Jesus  Christ 
to  consecrate  the  new  and  living  way.  And  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  he  is  never  said  to  have  offered  himself  to  God,  as  a  sacrifice  for 
sin,  or  a  sin-offering,  but  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  for  a  sweet  smell- 
ing savour,  a  living  sacrifice  in  obedience  to  God's  will,  as  our  example 
and  forerunner.  Thus,  ".When  he  said,  sacrifice  and  offering  and 
burnt-offerings  and  offering  for  sin,  thou  wouldst  not,  neither  hadst 
pleasure  therein  ;  [which  are  offered  by  the  law  ;]  then  said  he,  Lo, 
I  come  [for  what .''  to  be  made  a  sin-offering  to  God  ?  Nay  ;  but]  to 
do  thy  will,  O  God.  He  taketh  away  the  first,  [the  sacrifices  and 
offerings  of  the  law,]  that  he  might  establish  the  second,  [the  doing 
of  the  will  of  God  and  walking  in  it  after  Christ,  to  God's  acceptance.] 
By  the  which  will  we  [who  belong  to  the  true  body  of  Christ]  are 
sanctified,  [in  doing  as  he  did,]  through  the  offering  of  the  body  of 
Christ  once."     (Heb.  x.  8,  9,  10.) 

The  translators  have  here  added  the  words  for  all,  which  are  not 
in  the  Greek  text,  and  are  an  unnecessary  supplement ;  for  though 
he  offered  himself  for  all  as  the  head  and  forerunner  of  the  body, 
the  offering  of  the  body  of  Christ  includes  the  offering  of  all  the  mem- 
bers, who  have  all  to  offer  themselves  to  God  once  for  everlasting. 
"  I  beseech  you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye 
present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  to  God,  which 
is  your  reasonable  service."  (Rom.  xii.  1.)  But  if  the  phrase,  once 
for  all,  be  understood  as  relating  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  one  offering 
instead  of  the  many  offerings  under  the  law,  that  acceptation  is  cor- 
rect, and  the  meaning  of  the  text  remains  unimpaired.  For  in  this 
we  see  the  perfection  and  pre-eminence  of  his  offering  above  those 
under  the  law,  that  whereas  they  were  continued  because  incapable  of 
effecting  salvation  ;  his  one  offering  was  sufficient.  "  For  such  an 
high  priest  became  us  who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from 
sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens  ;  who  needeth  not  daily 
as  those  high  priests,  to  offer  up  sacrifice,  first  for  his  own  sins,  and 
then  for  the  people's  :  for  this  he  did  once,  when  he  offered  up  him- 
self."    (Heb.  vii.26,  27.) 

These  Scriptures,  but  especially  that  including  the  quotation  from 
the  fortieth  Psalm,  proves  pointedly  what  Christ  established,  as  the 
ground  of  our  acceptance  with  God,  first  and  last — Doing  the  ivill  of 
God.  "  He  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom.  The  sacrifices  therefore  under  the  law,  did 
not  typify  Christ  as  a  sin-offering  to  God  as  being  our  substitute,  but 
rather  the  sacrifices  of  service  in  obedience  to  God,  which  the  people 
have  to  offer  to  God  in  the  Gospel  Church,  that  spiritual  house  to  offer 
up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ :  no 
imputation  of  our  sins  or  guilt  to  him,  neither  of  his  righteousness  to 
us.  Now  the  phrase,  to  God,  in  the  above  quotation  from  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  (ix.  14,)  hath  not  respect  to  the  giving  of  the  offer- 
ing, as  being  offered  to  God,  but  to  the  quality  or  character  of  the 
person  or  thing  offered.  Not,  he  offered  himself  to  God,  without 
spot ;  but,  he  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God,  that  is  without  spot 
before  God,  or  in  his  sight.     The  phrase  is  in  the  same  construction 


100  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

in  tlie  Greek  text  as  that  by  whicli  Stephen  described  Moses,  -wliicli 
the  translators  have  rendered,  exceeding  fair ;  in  the  Greek, /air  to 
God.  (Acts  vii.  20.)  These  things  are  plain  to  the  candid  amono- 
the  learned. 

Now  let  ns  inquire  how  the  sacrifices  under  the  lawwonld  apply  to 
Christ,  as  representing  him.  "  Here  is  a  transgressor  ;  he  brings  a 
lamb  to  the  altar  ;  he  lays  his  hand  upon  its  head  and  confesses  his 
sins ;  he  must  then  with  his  own  hands  slay  it  and  hare  it  burnt  on 
the  altar  before  his  eyes."  (Levit.  i.  4,  5,  and  v.  5,  &c.  See  also 
B  W.  Stone's  Letters  on  Atonement,  page  30.)  Observe;  the  trans- 
gressor had  to  lay  his  hand  on  the  head  of  the  beast  in  the  presence 
of  the  ministering  priest,  (not  immediately  the  high  priest,)  and  there 
confess  his  sins,  and  then  with  his  own  hand  kill  the  sacrifice,  flay  it 
and  cut  it  in  pieces,  ready  to  be  laid  on  the  altar  and  burnt.  This 
was  the  common  and  regular  order  of  that  ritual.  If,  then,  this  sacri- 
fice represented  or  typified  Christ,  when  a  sinner  believes  in  him,  he 
is  to  lay  his  hand  on  his  head,  confess  his  sins,  kill  and  crucify  him, 
before  the  priest.  (Who  the  priest  is  I  need  not  say.)  Now  who  will 
suppose  that  this  is  the  work  of  a  returning  penitent,  to  crucify  the 
Son  of  God  afresh  ?  But  we  have  pursued  the  subject  far  enough  to 
see  that  these  things  will  not  apply. 

Let  us  now  inquire  how  these  sacrifices  will  apply  to  those  which 
men  have  to  offer  when  they  believe  the  Gospel.  In  the  presence 
of  the  Gospel  priest,  or  minister  of  Christ,  he  lays  his  hand  on  the 
head  of  the  beast  to  be  sacrificed,  which  is  his  own  carnal  nature, 
and  there  confesses  his  sins,  kills  the  beast  that  it  may  be  burnt  on  the 
altar  of  God  ;  that  is,  having  confessed  his  sins,  he  sets  himself,  soul 
and  body,  to  resist  the  practice  and  nature  of  evil,  and  thus  to  cru- 
cify the  carnal  mind  that  it  may  die  forever.  "  And  they  that  are 
Christ's  have  crucified  the.  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts." 
Thus  denying  himself  and  taking  up  his  cross,  he  follows  Christ, 
not  doing  his  own  will,  but  the  will  of  his  Father  in  heaven.  Thus 
the  man  gives  himself  up  wholly  a  living  sacrifice  for  the  destruction 
of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved.  There  must  be  a  whole  sur- 
render, without  reserve  or  dishonesty,  as  the  sacrifices  under  the  law 
must  be  whole  and  without  blemish.  And  as  under  the  law  Aaron 
oflfered  the  first  offering  himself,  and  afterwards  the  people  offered 
through  him  ;  so  Christ  made  the  first  offering;  and  whereas  he  had 
no  sins  to  confess,  and  none  of  which  to  repent,  after  having  entered 
into  the  way,  by  the  door  of  confession  and  repentance  which  was 
opened  for  the  people,  the  baptism  of  John,  saying,  Thus  it  becometh  us 
to  fulfdl  all  righteousness^  he  publicly  offered  himself  a  sacrifice  and  an 
offering  to  God,  for  a  sweet  smelling  savour,  for  the  destruction  of  the 
nature  of  the  flesh  which  he  had  assumed.  "  And  though  he  was  a  son 
yet  learned  he  obedience  by  the  things  which  he  suffered  ;  and  being 
made  perfect,  he  became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  them  that 
obey  him."  "  For  every  high  priest  is  ordained  to  offer  gifts  and  sa- 
crifices;  wherefore  it  is  of  necessity  that  this  man  have  somewhat  also 
to  offer."  (Heb.  v.  8,9,  and  viii.  3.)  Every  man  has  also  to  find 
his  own  sacrifice  and  not  the  high  priest  in  his  stead,  nor  God  by  any 
special  gift,  either  to  the  man  or  in  qualifying  and  commissioning  the 
high  nriest ;  but  every  man  had  to  furnish  an  offering  for  himself  out  of 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  101 

his  lawful  substance,  and  bring  it  to  the  high  priest  and  there  offer  it  to 
God  through  him. 

These  sacrifices  then  were  not  types  of  Christ  bearing  the  iniquities 
of  the  people  by  imputation,  but  rather  types  or  symbols  of  the  people 
dying  each  one  for  his  own  sin,  or  each  one  giving  himself  in  sacrifice 
to  God  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  or  fleshly  nature,  (which  is  the 
life  of  the  natural  man,)  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved.  And  seeing  the 
man  could  not  both  die  and  live,  according  to  that  carnal  dispensation, 
the  beast  died  in  his  room,  and  his  life  was  spared  ;  so  in  the  Gospel  the 
beast,  which  is  the  carnal  mind  or  nature,  is  put  to  death,  and  the 
spirit  is  saved. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  some  who  have  not  a  correct  understanding 
of  the  Gospel,  may  not  feel  reconciled  with  this  exposition  of  the  nature 
of  the  sacrifices  ;  but  let  such  prove  the  matter  and  see  if  they  can  dis- 
cover any  application  of  them  to  the  Gospel,  (as  they  were  confessedly 
shadows  of  something,)  which  is,  on  a  deliberate  and  impartial  view, 
attended  with  fewer  difficulties.  The  law  is  good  if  a  man  use  it  law- 
fully ;  and  no  doubt  but  the  whole  work  of  God  in  the  Gospel  was 
prefigured  by  the  law  in  some  respect,  and  all  the  ceremonies  of  the 
law  had  respect  to  the  Gospel ;  but  the  light  of  the  Gospel  only  can 
unfold  these  things,  with  their  proper  application.  For  without  the 
light  of  the  Gospel,  no  man  had  ever  understood  one  of  the  legal  ceremo- 
nies ;  and  for  the  want  of  this  light,  by  mingling  the  law  and  the  Gospel 
together,  (which  yet  help  to  illustrate  one  another,  each  one  being  kept 
in  its  proper  place,)  or  by  seeking  to  the  dead  for  the  living,  and  to  the 
darkness  for  light,  men  have  such  improper  views  of  both  the  law  and 
the  Gospel.  But  the  light  of  the  Gospel  will  sufficiently  unfold  the  use 
of  the  lav/,  and  no  doubt  the  design  of  many  ceremonies  of  which 
worldly  professors  have  no  understanding.  "  Seeing  then  that  we  have 
such  hope,  we  use  great  plainness  of  speech  ;  and  not  as  Moses  who 
put  a  vail  over  his  face  that  the  children  of  Israel  could  not  stedfastly 
look  to  the  end  of  that  which  is  abolished  :  but  their  minds  were  blinded  ; 
for  until  this  day  remaineth  the  same  vail  untaken  away  in  the  reading 
of  the  Old  Testament;  which  vail  is  done  away  in  Christ.  But  even 
unto  this  day,  when  Moses  is  read  the  vail  is  upon  their  heart.  Never- 
theless when  it  shall  turn  to  the  Lord,  the  vail  shall  be  taken  away." 
(2  Cor.  iii.  12-16.)  When  therefore  men  become  acquainted  with 
Christ  by  the  Gospel,  they  have  a  clear  understanding. 

The  opinion  therefore  that  the  Jews  in  offering  their  sacrifices,  had 
respect  to  the  blood  of  Christ,  afterv/ards  to  be  shed  for  them, 
and  believed  in  it  for  their  justification,  is  entirely  without  foundation. 
It  was  evidently  not  understood  that  he  would  be  put  to  death,  even 
by  those  who  believed  in  him  after  he  came,  often  as  he  had  told  them, 
until  the  fact  proved  it.  Had  those  sacrifices  then  all  typified  Christ, 
(as  no  doubt  they  did  point  to  him  and  concentrate  in  him,  inasmuch 
as  he  was  the  leader,  and  the  first  who  ever  offered  a  perfectly  accept- 
able sacrifice  to  God,  after  whom  all  others  pattern,)  the  Jews 
did  not  know  it ;  and  neither  did  they  know  the  substance  to  which 
they  did  relate,  for  they  could  not  see  the  end  of  those  things  which 
were  to  be  abolished.  The  partial,  or  ceremonial  justification  there- 
fore which  they  found  in  those  things,  which  were  a  figure  serving 
for  the  time  then  present,  was  on  the  principle  of  their  obedience  to 


102  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

God  in  the  things  which  they  believed  he  had  commanded  them  to 
do.  And  when  any  one  offered  an  offering,  in  all  things  according  to 
the  law,  it  was  imputed  to  him,  and  he  was  accepted  ;  but  if  in  any  ma- 
terial point  he  failed,  as  in  eating  any  of  the  sacrifice  of  a  vow  on  the 
third  day,  it  was  not  accepted,  neither  was  it  imputed  to  him  that  of- 
fered it.  And  again  :  "  What  man  soever  there  be  of  the  house  of 
Israel  that  killeth  an  ox,  or  lamb,  or  goat,  in  the  camp,  or  that  kill- 
eth  it  out  of  the  camp,  and  bringeth  it  not  unto  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to  offer  an  offering  unto  the  Lord 
before  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  blood  shall  be  imputed  to  that 
man;  he  hath  shed  blood."  To  the  same  point  is  the  law  of  the 
tithes  of  the  Levites.  When  they  offered  the  tenth  of  their  tithes 
as  a  heave-offering  to  God  and  gave  it  to  Aaron,  it  was  reckoned,  or 
imputed  to  them,  "  And  this  your  heave-offering  shall  be  reckoned 
[Heb.  imputed]  to  you  as  though  it  were  the  corn  of  the  threshing- 
floor,  and  as  the  fullness  of  the  wine-press."  (Levit.  xvii.  3,  4;  Num. 
xiii.  27.)  So  then  under  the  law,  and  also  in  the  Gospel,  as  has 
been  already  shown,  that  is  imputed  to  any  one,  and  that  only,  which 
he  actually  possesses  or  really  performs  :  and  this  is  the  proper 
use  of  the  word  impute.  Accordingly  when  Ahimelech  was  accused 
by  Saul,  as  being  an  accomplice  with  David  against  him,  he  plead- 
ed his  innocence,  saying,  "  Did  I  then  begin  to  inquire  of  God 
for  him  ?  be  it  far  from  me :  let  not  the  king  impute  any  thing  to  Ms 
servant."  (1  Sam.  xxii.  16.)  No  atonement,  therefore,  or  justi- 
fication, in  these  things  by  imputation,  from  one  to  another  ;  there 
was  no  substitution  in  the  case  ;  each  man  had  to  furnish  his  sacrifice 
at  his  own  expense,  and  not  the  priest  for  him  ;  so  each  one  under 
the  Gospel  is  to  offer  at  the  expense  of  his  own  life,  that  is,  the  flesh, 
and  not  another  for  him.  But  as  before  stated;  the  high  priest  was 
no  doubt  a  type  of  Christ ;  and  amongst  other  things,  in  this,  that  he 
bore  the  names  and  the  judgment  of  the  people,  and  the  sins  of  their 
holy  things  which  they  hallowed,  or  devoted  to  God,  in  all  their  gifts. 
For  thus  it  is  written  :  "  And  Aaron  shall  bear  the  names  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  on  the  breastplate  of  judgment  upon  his  heart,  when  he 
goeth  into  the  holy  place,  for  a  memorial  before  the  Lord  continually 
— And  thou  shall  make  a  plate  of  pure  gold,  and  grave  upon  it,  like 
the  engravings  of  a  signet,  HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD.  And  it 
shall  be  upon  Aaron's  forehead,  that  Aaron  may  bear  the  iniquity  of 
the  holy  things,  which  the  children  of  Israel  shall  hallow  in  their  holy 
gifts  :  and  it  shall  be  always  upon  his  forehead,  that  they  may  be  ac- 
cepted before  the  Lord."  (Exod.  xxviii.  29,  30,  36,  38.)  Thus  the 
high  priest  bore  the  judgment  and  the  sins  of  the  people  before  the 
Lord,  that  they  might  be  accepted,  when,  according  to  the  law  and  ap- 
pointed order  of  God,  they  had  rolled  their  sins  over  on  him,  by  con- 
fessing their  sins  and  bringing  their  offerings  to  the  ministering  priests. 
For  under  the  law,  that  which  was  offered  to  God  was  given  to  the 
priests.  So  did  Jesus  Christ  bear  the  names,  and  the  judgment,  and 
the  sins  of  his  people,  and  still  beareth  them.  "  Nevertheless  the 
foundation  [or  covenant]  of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this  seal,  The 
Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."  "  He  that  overcometh,  the  same 
shall  be  clothed  in  white  raiment ;  and  I  will  not  blot  out  his  name 
out  of  the  book  of  life,  but  I  will  confess  his  name  before  my  father, 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  103 

and  before  Ms  holy  angels.  By  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  ser- 
vant justify  many  ;  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities — And  he  bear  the 
sin  of  many  ;''"'  even  of  all  those  who  roll  them  over  on  him  according 
to  the  order  of  the  Gospel,  by  confessing  their  sins  and  bringing  their 
offerings  to  God  and  presenting  them  to  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  thus  make  covenant  with  God  by  sacrifice,  and  keep  it.  But  neither 
did  God,  nor  Moses  whom  the  Lord  made  as  God  to  the  people,  ex- 
act any  punishment  of  Aaron  in  the  execution  of  his  office  in  the  be- 
half of  the  people.  Neither  Aaron  therefore,  nor  the  under  priests, 
bore  the  punishment  of  the  sins  of  the  people,  or  the  reward  of  their 
iniquities  ;  they  only  bore  their  sins  away,  and  as  it  were,  buried 
them  out  of  sight,  making  atonement  according  to  law.  So  neither 
did  God  exact  any  punishment  of  his  Son,  the  great  high  priest  of 
our  profession,  as  a  punishment  for  the  sins  of  his  people,  or  the  re- 
ward of  their  iniquities  whom  he  came  to  save.  But  he  and  his  holy 
priesthood,  or  he  in  them,  and  they  in  him,  bear  them  away  from  the 
people  and  cover  them  in  charity ;  for  charity  covereth  a  multitude  of 
sins  ;  and  the  priests  make  atonement  and  the  sins  of  the  people  are 
forgiven  them.  No  imputation  of  the  sins  of  the  people  to  the  high 
priest,  or  of  his  righteousness  to  them ;  every  one  had  to  make  his 
own  offering.  So  neither  is  there  any  imputation  of  the  sins  of  the 
people  to  Jesus  Christ,  or  of  his  righteousness  to  them,  only  as 
they  live  his  righteous  life  ;  He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous^ 
even  as  he  is  righteous  ;  and  he  that  doeth  not  righteousness  is  not  of  God. 
Let  every  one  that  nameth  the  name  of  Christ  depart  from  iniquity. 

The  sacrifices  under  the  law  were  designed  for  the  purification  of 
the  worshippers ;  and  this  end  they  answered  ceremonially,  but  did 
not  reach  the  conscience;  for  in  the  first  tabernacle  "were  offered 
both  gifts  and  sacrifices  that  could  not  make  him  that  did  the  service 
perfect,  as  pertaining  to  the  conscience."  "For  the  law,  having 
a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  and  not  the  very  image  of  the  things, 
can  never,  with  those  sacrifices  which  they  offered  year  by  year  con- 
tinually, make  the  comers  thereunto  perfect:  for  then  would  they 
not  have  ceased  to  be  offered .?  because  that  the  worshippers  once 
purged  should  have  had  no  more  conscience  of  sins.  But  in  those 
sacrifices  there  is  a  remembrance  again  of  sins  every  year."  (Heb. 
ix.  9,  and  x.  1,  2,  3.)  Thus  the  Apostle  fairly  proves  that  they  did 
not  purge  the  conscience,  nor  in  reality  take  away  sin  at  all.  But  as 
those  sacrifices,  or  the  blood  thereof,  served  to  purify  ceremonially, 
so  doth  the  blood  of  Christ  to  those  who  drink  it,  purge  the  con- 
science before  God.  "  For  if  the  blood  of  bulls,  and  of  goats,  and 
the  ashes  of  an  heifer,  sprinkling  the  unclean,  sanctifieth  to  the  puri- 
fying of  the  flesh  [ceremonially]  ;  how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of 
Christ,  who  through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  spot  to 
God,  purge  your  consciences  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living 
God."  (Heb.  ix.  13,  14.)  This  then  was  the  end  of  those  sacrifices, 
to  cleanse  the  worshippers  ceremonially,  and  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ 
now,  to  purge  the  conscience  of  the  obedient  believer,  in  the  true 
spirit  and  substance  ;  not  by  imputation  of  his  blood  to  us,  but  hj 
doing  the  will  of  God  as  he  did  it,  as  has  been  shown. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  "  even  Christ  our  passover,  is  sacrificed  for 
us,"  and  this  must  surely  mean,  that  he  is  the   great  Antitype  of  all 


104  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

the  sacrifices,  to  whom  they  all  pointed,  who  also  was  put  to  death 
in  our  room,  that  his  blood  sprinkled  on  us,  or  imputed  to  us,  may 
save  us  from  the  curse,  as  the  blood  of  the  Jewish  passover  did  the 
Jews.  That  he  is  our  sacrifice,  and  that  he  was  sacrificed  for  us, 
will  not  be  denied.  But  it  has  been  shown  how,  and  to  what  end  ; 
even  to  be  to  us  an  example,  and  to  lead  us  to  God,  while  we  are  to 
follow  his  track,  purifying  ourselves,  even  as  he  is  pure  ;  and  the 
connection  of  this  text  also  corresponds  with  this  view  of  the  subject 
to  confirm  it.  "  Purge  out  therefore  the  old  leaven,  that  ye  may  be 
a  new  lump,  as  ye  are  unleavened.  For  even  Christ  our  passover 
is  sacrificed  for  us  :  therefore  let  us  keep  the  feast,  not  with  the 
leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness ;  but  with  the  unleavened  bread 
of  sincerity  and  truth."  Thus  faithful  believers  in  Christ  keep  the 
feast ;  thus  they  eat  the  passover  from  day  to  day,  eating  his  flesh 
and  drinking  his  blood  ;  that  is,  living  as  he  did  and  in  his  spirit. 
For  it  is  written  that  the  life  of  allflesh  is  the  blood  thereof;  and  again 
Jesus  testifies  saying,  "  It  is  the  Spiiit  that  quickeneth,  the  flesh  pro- 
fiteth  nothing."  (1  Cor.  v.  7,  8  ;  Levit.  xvii.  14  ;  Jno.  vi.  63.) 

Another  argument  in  defence  of  justification  by  the  imputed  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  is  the  saying  of  Paul  :  "  That  I  may  win  Christ, 
and  be  found  in  him,  not  having  mine  own  righteousness,  which  is  of 
the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  of  God  by  faith."   (Phil  iii.   9.) 

It  might  indeed  by  this  time  be  understood,  that  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  and  obedience,  here  contended  for,  is  not,  in  any 
respect,  intended  or  calculated  to  contradict  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  the  righteousness  of  God,  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
but  to  deliver  the  people  from  the  groundless  notion  of  being  justified 
by  the  good  deeds  and  suiferings  of  another,  or  by  the  righteousness 
of  another  imputed  to  them,  when  God  hath  taught  no  such  thing. 
For  the  righteousness  of  God  by  the  faith  of  Christ  is  the  same  right- 
eousness by  faith  and  obedience,  for  which  we  contend  ;  a  righteous- 
ness and  justification  according  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  in  opposition  to 
the  righteousness  and  justification  by  the  law  of  Moses,  or  any  other 
plan,  partly  or  wholly  separate  from  faith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to 
Mm.  For  that  righteousness  which  is  obtained  according  to  God's 
appointment,  and  to  his  acceptance,  is  GodP s  righieousness  ;  and  it  is 
always  attained  by  faith  in  Christ,  it  is  the  righteousness  which  is  of 
God  by  faith^  even  that  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ. 

A  man's  own  righteousness  is  that  in  which  he  would  justify  himself, 
one  side  of  the  appointment  of  God  ;  as  the  Jews,  "  who  being  ig- 
norant of  God's  righteousness,  and  going  about  to  establish  their  own 
righteousness,  have  not  submitted  themselves  to  the  righteousness  of 
God."  Zealous  as  they  were  of  the  law,  it  was  not  because  they 
were  so  attached  to  the  law,  or  so  true  and  faithful  in  it,  that  they 
rejected  Christ,  but  because,  by  their  own  traditions,  they  had  made 
void  the  law,  and  were  wanting  in  the  true  spirit  of  it.  "  For  I  bear 
them  record,"  saith  the  Apostle,  "  that  they  have  a  zeal  for  God  but 
not  according  to  knowledge."  But  had  they  believed  the  law  and 
understood  it,  they  would  have  believed  Christ.  "  For  Christ  is  the 
end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth."  (Rom. 
X.  2, 3, 4.)  Accordingly  Jesus  said  to  the  Jews,  Do  not  think  that  I  will 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  105 

accuse  you  to  the  Father  :  there  is  one  that  accuseth  you,  even 
Moses,  in  whom  ye  trust.  For  had  ye  believed  Moses  ye  would  have 
believed  me  ;  for  he  wrote  of  me.  But  if  ye  believe  not  his  writings, 
how  shall  ye  believe  my  words  .?"  And  again  :  "  Did  not  Moses  give 
you  a  law  .''  and  yet  none  of  you  keepeth  the  law."  And  again  : 
"  Search  the  Scriptures  [or  ye  search  the  Scriptures]  because  in  them 
ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life  :  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me. 
And  ye  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye  might  have  life."  John  v.  45- 
47,  vii.  19,  and  v.  39,  40. 

But  after  the  law  had  served  its  day,  and  Christ  had  appeared ;  for 
a  man  to  seek  justification  in  any  degree  by  the  law,  is  to  go  about  to 
establish  his  own  righteousness,  and  not  su.bmit  to  the  righteousness 
of  God,  for  that  is  to  go  out  of  God's  appointment.  Therefore  the 
Apostle,  although  while  the  law  was  all  he  knew,  he  felt  himself  blame- 
less, when  Christ  was  made  known  to  him,  gave  it  up,  with  all  his  at- 
tainments in  it,  for  the  knowledge  of  Christ ;  "  Touching  the  right- 
eousness which  is  in  the  law,  blameless.  But  what  things  were  ^ain 
to  me,  those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea,  doubtless,  and  I  count 
all  things  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus 
my  Lord:  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  do 
count  them  dung,  that  I  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him,  not 
having  mine  own  righteousness,  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is 
through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by 
faith  ;  that  I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and 
the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  being  made  conformable  to  his  death." 
(Phil.  iii.  6-10.)  But  in  all  this  there  is  not  a  word  of  righteous- 
ness being  imputed  to  him,  especially  any  vicarious  or  surety  right- 
eousness of  Christ.  And  who  could  have  asked  a  fairer  opportunity 
to  have  said,  Tlie  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  me,  had  he  believ- 
ed any  thing  of  such  a  plan  ?  And  what  can  be  the  reason  that  Paul, 
who  shunned  not  to  declare  all  the  counsel  of  God,  should  never  find 
an  occasion  to  name  in  all  his  discourses,  that  which  is  esteemed  one 
of  the  main  branches  of  all  God^s  counsels  ? 

But  doth  not  the  Apostle  here  expressly  disclaim  his  own  righteous- 
ness }  Yea,  his  own  righteousness  which  is  of  the  law,  now  abolished 
in  Christ.  But  although  he  gave  up  all  other  laws  and  attachments 
for  Christ,  that  doth  not  imply  that  he  must  reject  the  law  of  Christ 
also,  and  disclaim  that  righteousness  which  is  through  the  faith  of 
Christ,  even  though  it  be  called  his  own  after  he  hath  attained  it.  As 
said  Jesus,  "  Except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  scribes  and  pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  (Matt.  v.  20.  j  Your  righteousness — not  mine 
imputed  to  you.  Now  the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and  pharisees, 
which  is  that  of  the  law,  is  that  which  the  Apostle  here  disclaims,  how- 
ever perfect  it  might  be,  (for  he  was  a  pharisee  as  touching  the  law, 
and  touching  the  righteousness  which  is  in  the  law  blameless,)  that  he 
might  gain  that  righteousness  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ. 
And  what  was  the  faith  of  Christ  .?  To  do  always  the  things  which 
pleased  God.  "  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O  God.  He  taketh 
away  the  fii-st,  [the  law,]  that  he  may  establish  the  second,"  the 
doing   of  the  will  of  God.     This  was  the  faith  by  which  Jesus  al- 


106  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

ways  maintained  tlie  union  and  protection  of  tHe  Father,  as  lie  said  : 
"  And  tlie  Father  hatii  not  left  me  alone,  for  [Greek,  because]  I  al- 
ways do  those  things  which  please  him."  (Jno.  viii.  29.)  And  by  this 
same  faith  believers  maintain  their  union  and  access  to  God,  as 
saith  the  Apostle  :  "  Beloved,  if  our  heart  condemn  us  not,  then  have 
we  confidence  towards  God.  And  whatsoever  we  ask  we  receive 
of  him,  because  we  keep  his  commandments,  and  do  those  things  that 
are  pleasing  in  his  sight."  (1  Jno.  iii.  21,  22.)  And  said  Jesus  ;  "If 
ye  keep  my  commandments,  ye  shall  abide  in  my  love  ;  even  as  I  have 
kept  my  Father's  commandments,  and  abide  in  his  love." 

When,  therefore,  any  man  hath  on  him  that  righteousness  which  is 
through  the  faith  of  Christ,  it  is  his  own  righteousness,  as  truly  as  it 
is  the  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ  when  on  him,  and  on  the  same 
principle,  "he  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous  even  as  he  is 
righteous."  But  it  is  all  of  God  ;  all  things  being  done  according  to 
his  plan  and  appointment,  and  to  his  acceptance.  "This  is  the 
heritage  of  the  servants  of  the  Lore,  and  their  righteousness  is  of  me, 
saith  the  Lord."  (Isa.  liv.  17.) 

Much  as  is  said  of  their  righteousness,  as  being  of  God,  and  of  the 
righteousness  of  God  by  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  being  the 
righteousness  of  his  people,  it  is  remarkable  that  it  is  never  once  said 
to  be  theirs  by  imputation,  application,  impartation,  or  any  other  way 
contrary  to  that  of  doing  righteousness,  and  so  being  righteous  even 
as  he  is  righteous.  Even  in  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  (iii.  20-28,) 
where  the  Apostle  has  .insisted  so  much  on  faith,  he  never  once  names 
the  righteousness  of  God  or  of  Christ  as  being  imputed  to  believers, 
or  Christ's  satisfying  divine  justice,  appeasing  God,  or  working  out  a 
righteousness  for  his  people,  or  any  such  thing  ;  (neither  any  where 
else  ;)  but  shows  clearly  enough  the  work  of  Christ,  in  declaring^ 
demonstrating^  or  exhibiting  to  view,  the  righteousness  of  God,  in  a  way 
different  from  the  law,  yet  the  very  same  righteousness  which  was 
attested  by  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  is  in  the  Gospel  manifested, 
not  only  to,  but  also  upon  all  them  that  believe,  whether  Jews  or 
Gentiles.  Thus  Christ  was  set  forth  a  propitiation,  (or  iXar^piov 
mercy-seat,  being  the  same  Greek  word  which  is  so  rendered  in  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  ix.  5,  as  expressing  the  place  where  God 
appeared  to  the  people,  and  manifested  his  glory :  the  same  word 
also  by  which  the  seventy  Jews  have  generally  translated  the  Hebrew 
word  which  the  English  translators  render  mercy-seat,)  to  manifest  or 
declare  the  righteousness  of  God,  not  to  work  it  out  or  to  make  a 
righteousness  for  his  people,  by  doing  and  suffering  in  their  room,  but  in  a 
living  example,  at  the  expense  of  his  blood,  to  exhibit  the  righteousness 
of  God  to  view,  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past,  even  those 
transgressions  which  were  committed  under  the  first  testament,  (Heb. 
ix.  15,)  as  well  as  for  those  of  the  present  time,  that  after  such  a 
demonstration  of  God's  righteousness,  in  his  long-suffering,  the  way 
might  be  open  for  him  to  be  just  and  so  to  appear,  and  the  justifier  of 
those  who  believe  in  Jesus  and  obey  as  he  did.  To  this  effect  are  his 
words  :  "  Therefore  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be 
justified  in  his  sight ;  for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin.  But 
now  without  the  law,  the  righteousness  of  God  is  manifested,  being 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  107 

witnessed  by  the  law  and  tlie  prophets ;  even  tlie  righteousness  of 
God  through  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all  and  upon  all  them 
that  believe  ;  for  there  is  no  difference  ;  for  all  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God,  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through 
the  redemption  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus ;  whom  God  hath  set  forth  a 
mercy-seat  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare  [or  Greek,  for  a 
demonstration  of]  his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins,  that  are 
past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God,  [and  not  by  the  righteousness  of 
Christ  imputed;]  to  declare,  I  say,  at  this  time,  his  righteousness: 
that  he  might  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  who  believeth  in  Jesus," 
(or  of  him  who  is  by  the  fail  h  of  Jesus  ;  as  it  were  a  son  of  his  faith; 
one  who  lives  as  he  lives,  doing  the  will  of  God  in  all  things.  For 
that  was  undeniably  the  faith  of  Christ  which  he  kept,  and  for  which 
he  came  into  the  world.  "Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  0  God;"  and 
again,  "The  Father  hath  not  left  me  alone,  because  I  always  do  the 
things  which  are  pleasing  to  him.")  "  Where  is  boasting  then  .^  It 
is  excluded.  By  what  law.'  of  works  .'  Nay;  but  by  the  law  of  faith. 
Wherefore  we  conclude  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  without  the 
deeds  of  the  Jaw.''''  True  enough  ;  without  the  deeds  of  the  laiv  ;  but  not 
without  the  faith  of  Christ  which  worketh  by  love.  Disobedience  to  the 
Gospel  is  as  emphatically  the  character  of  the  wicked  who  are  not  in 
Christ  as  unbelief.  "  For  the  time  is  come  that  judgment  must  begin 
at  the  house  of  God  ;  and  if  it  first  begin  at  us,  what  shall  the  end  be 
of  them  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  God.''  "But  to  them  that  are 
contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness, 
indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish  upon  every  soul  of 
man  that  doeih  evil.''''  "For  which  things'  sake  the  wrath  of  God 
Cometh  on  the  children  of  disobedience.''''  ( 1  Pet.  iv.  17 ;  Rom.  ii.  8,  9  ; 
Col.  iii.  6  ;  Eph.  ii.  2,  and  v.  6.)  Obedience  is  also  as  properly  the 
character  of  a  Christian  as  believing.  "  But  glory,  honour  and  peace 
to  every  man  that  worketh  good.'''  "And  being  made  perfect  he 
became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  them  that  obey  him.'''' 
(Rom.  ii.  10  ;  Heb.  v.  9.)  Thus  while  the  works  of  the  law,  and  that 
righteousness  which  is  of  the  law,  are  excluded  from  any  part  in 
justification,  or  in  keeping  union  with  God  from  beginning  to  end, 
that  obedience  which  is  after  Christ  is  never  excluded.  "For  in 
Jesus  Christ  neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircum- 
cision  ;  but  faith  which  worketh  by  love  :"  and  again  :  "  Circumcision 
is  nothing,  and  u.ncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  the  keeping  of  the  com- 
mandments of  God."  (Gal.  V.  6  ;   1  Cor.  vii.  19.) 

But  on  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  may  be  asked,  how  is  boasting 
excluded .'  I  ask  in  return,  where  is  there  any  room  for  us  to  boast 
(except  in  God,)  that  God  hath  of  his  own  free  love  and  mercy  given 
us  a  Saviour  .?  and  laid  the  whole  plan  of  our  redemption  without 
our  knowledge  or  our  aid  }  and  that,  too,  not  on  account  of  any 
goodness  in  us,  but  of  his  own  grace  }  "  Not  by  works  of  righteous- 
ness which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  hath 
saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  (Tit.  iii.  5.)  And  what  have  we,  which  we  have  not  re- 
ceived .?  If,  therefore,  we  have  received  it,  why  should  we  boast,  as 
though  we  had  not  received  it  }  "  So  likewise  ye,  when  ye  have  done 
all  these  things  which  are  commanded  you,  say,  We  are  unprofitable 


108  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

servants  ;  we  have  done  tliat  wMdi  was  our  duty  to  do."  (Luke  xvii. 
10.)  But  all  these  things  neither  prohibit  nor  contradict  a  man's 
experience  of  justification,  the  approbation  of  his  own  conscience, 
and  acceptance  of  God,  in  the  performance  of  his  duty,  in  making  a 
right  use  of  the  things  which  he  hath  received,  and  submitting  to  the 
washing  of  regeneration,  or  rather  in  washing  himself  therein,  (wash 
you,  make  you  clean,)  and  so  being  renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
"  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  thou  hast  been  faithful  over 
a  few  things  ;  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things  ;  enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  (Matt.  xxv.  21.)  But  this  subject  will 
be  noticed  hereafter. 

Another  argument  for  justification,  by  Christ's  righteousness  im- 
puted is,  that  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law, 
being  made  a  curse  for  us.     (Gal.  iii.  13.) 

By  attending  to  the  connection  we  may  readily  see  that  no  great 
difficulty  need  be  felt  in  this  passage,  it  being  susceptible,  in  its  most 
natural  construction,  of  an  acceptation  perfectly  consistent  with  the 
doctrine  which  we  are  proving.  The  law  here  spoken  of  is  the  Mo- 
saic, as  is  evident  from  the  words  a  little  before  :  "  For  as  many  as 
are  of  the  works  of  the  law  are  under  the  curse  ;  for  it  is  written, 
Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  writ- 
ten in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them."  Why  under  the  curse  by 
being  of  the  works  of  the  law  which  required  obedience  in  all  things, 
and  only  cursed  those  who  failed  ?  Why  not  keep  the  law  and  be 
blessed  ?  For  it  is  written,  "  The  man  that  doeth  them  shall  live  in 
them."  Why  then  not  do  them  and  live  ?  Because  there  is  no 
power.  The  law  of  Moses  supplied  not  the  people  with  power  to 
keep  it,  except  outwardly  ;  and  the  man  who  did  them  lived  in  them: 
had  a  temporal  life,  and  temporal  blessings.  But  to  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,  which 
things  are  written  in  that  law,  and  thus  to  condemn  sin  in  the  flesh 
altogether,  so  as  to  fulfill  the  perfect  righteousness  of  the  law,  purg- 
ing the  conscience  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God, 
remained  for  the  law  of  faith  in  Christ,  that  faith  which  worketh  by 
love,  that  Christ,  and  not  Moses,  might  be  the  first  and  have  the  pre- 
eminence in  all  things,  having  done,  and  opened  the  way,  as  our  ex- 
ample, for  us  to  do,  that  which  was  impossible  for  the  law,  or  those 
under  it,  to  do,  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in 
us.  This  law  is  also  that  which  was  interposed  between  the  promise 
and  the  inheritance,  and  was  added  because  of  transgression,  until 
the  seed  should  come  to  whom  the  promise  was  made,  but  could  not 
justify  as  pertaining  to  the  conscience  ;  for  justification  was  to  be  by 
faith  which  had  respect  to  the  promise.  "  But  that  no  man  is  justi- 
fied by  the  law  in  the  sight  of  God  it  is  evident,  for  the  just  shall 
live  by  faith.  And  the  law  is  not  of  faith  ;  but  the  man  that  doeth 
them  shall  live  in  them,"  and  therein  shall  be  his  life  and  not  in 
Christ.  "  Is  the  law  then  against  the  promise  of  God  ?  God  forbid  ; 
for  if  there  had  been  a  law  given  which  could  have  given  life,  verily 
righteousness  should  have  been  by  the  law.  Christ  hath  redeemed 
us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us  ;  for  it  is 
written,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree."     How  then  did 


OP    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  109 

he  redeem  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law  ?  By  taking  out  of  the  way  that 
law,  or  that  dispensation  of  the  law,  which  kept  the  people  under 
the  curse  by  making  demands  which  it  furnished  no  power  to  fulfill ; 
"  Blotting  out  the  hand- writing  of  ordinances  that  was  against  us, 
which  was  contrary  to  us,  and  took  it  out  of  the  way,  nailing  it  to  his 
cross."  "  By  whom  we  have  received  grace  and  apostleship,  for 
obedience  to  the  faith  among  all  nations  for  his  name."  "For 
Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  who  be- 
lieveth."  (Col.  ii.  14;  Rom.  i.  5,  and  x.  4.)  But  how  was  he  made 
a  curse  for  us  ?  Rather  than  give  place  to  the  enemy ;  rather  than 
fail  or  be  discouraged  in  the  work  he  came  to  do,  until  he  should 
bring  forth  judgment  to  truth,  for  both  Jews  and  Gentiles;  rather 
than  be  lacking  in  any  part  of  the  example  which  he  undertook  to  be, 
as  the  forerunner  of  his  people  who  were  sure  to  have  to  suffer  for 
his  name  ;  and  that  he  might  in  all  things  confirm  the  covenant  of 
promise  made  to  the  fathers  ;  he  suffered  himself  to  be  taken  and 
hanged  on  a  tree,  or  crucified,  and  so  by  false  accusation  endured  the 
curse  which  the  law  of  Moses  prescribed  for  a  malefactor,  according 
to  what  has  been  already  shown :  "  That  the  blessing  of  Abraham 
might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  might  re- 
ceive the  promise  of  the  Spirit  through  faith."  Christ,  therefore, 
was  made  a  curse  by  the  malice  of  wicked  men  for  doing  his  duty, 
which  he  had  undertaken  for  our  redemption,  and  by  becoming  a  curse 
in  that  way,  put  the  seal  to  the  covenant.  But  he  was  not  made  a 
curse  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  unless  as  before  expounded  ;  "  For  no 
man  speaking  by  the  Spirit  of  God  calleth  Jesus  accursed."  (1  Cor. 
xii.  3;  B.  W.  Stone,  p.  35.) 

But  fully  to  illustrate  the  above  statement,  let  it  be  remembered 
that  the  law,  although  it  could  not  justify  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  per- 
taining to  the  conscience,  and  the  worshippers  were  always  subject  to 
a  sense  of  being  under  the  power  of  sin,  nevertheless,  did  not  neces- 
sarily leave  them  under  the  present  burden  of  guilt  for  the  omission  of 
duty;  for  they  were  capable  of  complying  with  those  statutes  and  or- 
dinances which  were  enjoined  upon  them,  that  being  all  which  was 
positively  required  of  them  for  the  time  being  ;  and  in  the  perform- 
ance of  these  institutions  they  were  blessed,  and  found  peace  and 
prosperity  ;  For  the  man  that  doeth  them  shall  live  in  them.  But  as  that 
obedience  was  mainly  ceremonial  and  outward,  so  were  the  blessings 
which  they  received  of  a  temporal  nature.  They  had  nothing  which 
could  minister  life  to  the  soul,  or  take  away  sin,  which  was  the  true 
spirit  and  end  of  the  law.  Their  best  ministrations  left  them  in  a 
state  of  condemnation  and  death  ;  and  the  greatest  work  that  whole 
ministration  could  do  for  them,  was  to  waken  them  to  some  know- 
ledge of  their  condition,  (for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin,  but 
not  of  salvation,)  and  hold  out  the  promise  (in  the  letter)  of  a  deliv- 
erance to  come,  so  that  it  is  called  by  inspiration,  the  ministration  of 
death  and  of  condem.nation.  (2  Cor.  iii.  7,  9.)  "  For  if  there  had 
been  a  law  given  which  could  have  given  life,  verily  righteousness 
should  have  been  by  the  law."  As  therefore  the  law,  which  was  the 
only  mean  of  life  which  they  had  in  possession,  could  not  give  life, 
they  could  not  be  under  guilt  for  not  having  it.  But  yet  they  were 
without  that  life  which  was  spiritual,  "  Shut  up  to  the  faith  which 


110  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

should  afterwards  be  revealed."  "  For  tte  law  raade  nothing  perfect, 
hut  the  bringing  in  of  a  better  hope  doth  ;*  by  the  which  we  draw 
nigh  to  God."     (Heb.  vii.  19.) 

Another  Scripture,  which  may  be  considered  as  concurrent  with 
the  above,  is  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  (ix.  12.)  "  Neither  by 
the  blood  of  goats  and  calves,  but  by  his  own  blood,  he  entered  in 
once,  into  the  holy  place,  having  obtained  ( in  the  Greek, having  found] 
eternal  redemption  for  us."  That  he  entered  in  by  his  own  blood 
is  not  disputed  ;  neither  is  it  disputed,  that  he  spent  his  life  and  blood 
in  opening  and  consecrating  the  new  and  living  way,  that  we  might 
find  redemption.  But  all  this  will  not  prove  the  doctrine  of  sureti- 
ship  or  imputed  righteousness.  We  have  already  seen,  that  there 
is  another  method  for  him  to  have  entered  in  by  his  blood,  (or  through 
it,  as  the  Greek  word  is  very  commonly  and  properly  rendered,)  that 
is,  by  spending  his  life  and  spilling  his  blood  in  overcoming  the  oppo- 
sition of  men  and  devils  against  him  as  the  captain  of  our  salvation, 
that  he  might  lead  us  to  God,  and  through  death,  destroy  him  that 
had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil,  and  deliver  those  who, 
through  fear  of  death,  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage. 
In  this  way  he  obtained,  or  acquired,  redemption  ;  he  gained  his 
point,  having  found  eternal  redemption,  as  our  captain  ;  the  first 
leader  and  perfecter  of  faith  ;  being  the  first  who  ever  gained  full 
and  immediate  access  to  the  throne  of  God.  But  this  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent matter  from  purchasing,  or  obtaining  by  proper  price,  which 
is  never  applied  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  redemption,  justification  or 
salvation.  A  man  may  obtain  the  object  in  view  by  great  labour, 
much  sweat  and  blood,  where  there  is  no  demand  of  an  equivalent 
for  the  thing  obtained,  and  where  no  one  hath  any  right  to  make  such 
demand.  Thus  Christ  gained  the  point  of  overcoming  the  world, 
conquering  the  devil  who  had  the  power  of  death,  and  leading  us  to 
God,  (Heb.  ii.  14,  Greek,)  when  the  devil,  who  had  the  power  of 
death  and  held  souls  in  bondage,  had  no  right  to  demand  any  pay  for 
letting  them  go.  And  it  was  neither  reasonable  nor  possible,  that 
God  could  demand  of  him  and  pay  for  rescuing  those  souls  whom 
he  sent  him  to  deliver.  It  is  more  ijeasonable  that  God  should  have 
given  him  a  good  reward.  And  thip  he  has  done  ;  for  he  hath  raised 
him  from  the  dead — crowned  him  with  glory  and  honour^  and  seated 
him  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God — he  hath  appointed 
him  the  heir  of  all  things — made  him  the  head  over  all  things  to  the 
Churchy  and  prince  over  all  the  souls  whom  he  redeemeth — hath  high- 
ly exalted  him  and  given  him  a  name  which  is  above  every  name 
thai  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow^  of  those  in  heaven 
and  those  on  earth  and  those  under  the  earth;  and  that  every  tongue 
should  confess   that   Jesus    Christ  is   Lord,  to   the  glory   of  God  the 


*  The  supplement  here  added  by  the  translators  seems  rather  to  carry  the 
sense  to  a  different  point  from  that  of  the  Greek  text,  and  might  cause  the  writer 
to  be  understood  as  stating  that  matters  were  already  perfected,  whereas  all  that 
can  be  supported  by  the  text,  is,  that  the  Gospel,  or  the  bringing  in  of  a  better 
hope,  is  the  competent  means  of  making  perfect ;  the  full  effect  to  be  obtained 
in  due  time  :  the  sentence  is  elliptical. 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 


Ill 


Father.  (Phil.  ii.  9,  10,  11.)  But  the  obtaining  of  this  point  cost 
him  much  labour  and  sweat,  his  life  and  blood ;  although  God  de- 
manded nothing  of  him  as  payment  for  our  redemption,  and  demands 
no  less  of  us  than  before,  but  much  more  according  to  the  greatness 
of  our  privilege.  "  Therefore  we  ought  to  give  the  more  earnest 
heed  to  the  things  which  we  have  heard,  lest  at  any  time  we  should 
let  them  slip.  For  if  the  word  spoken  by  angels  was  stedfast, 
and  every  transgression  and  disobedience  received  a  just  recom- 
pense of  reward  ;  how  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salva- 
tion ;  which  at  the  first  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord  and  was 
confirmed  unto  us  by  them  that  heard  him."    (Heb.  ii.   1,  2,  3.) 

Once  more ;  in  defence  of  justification  by  the  imputation  of 
Christ's  righteousness,  it  may  be  argued,  that  although  the  term  price., 
buy,  or  purchase,  is  never  applied  directly  to  salvation  or  redemption, 
yet  he  certainly  did  pay  a  price  for  the  people,  as  it  is  written  :  "And 
ye  are  not  your  own,  for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price."  "Forasmuch 
then  as  ye  know  that  ye  were  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things, 
as  silver  and  gold,  from  your  vain  conversation  received  by  tradition 
from  your  fathers,  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb 
without  blemish  and  without  spot."  And  believers  are  called  The 
purchased  possession.   (1  Cor.  vi.  19,  20  ;  1  Pet.  i   18,19;  Eph.  i.  14.) 

I  suppose  little,  if  any  thing,  need  be  said  to  satisfy  every  man  of 
liberal  information,  that  to  purchase,  to  buy,  to  redeem,  and  to  ransom, 
are  used  as  tantamount  expressions.  This  may  be  more  learnedly 
understood  by  those  who  can  read  the  Scriptures  in  their  original 
languages,  by  comparing  the  different  passages  in  which  those  terms 
are  used.  These  terms  all  relate  to  liberating  the  people  from  their 
bondage  to  the  devil,  sin  and  death,  and  leading  them  to  God  to  be 
his  possession.  "  For  ye  were  as  sheep  going  astray  ;  but  are  now 
returned  to  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  your  souls."  (1  Pet.  ii.  25.) 

That  God's  people  are  said,  in  the  Scriptures,  to  be  redeemed, 
bought,  or  purchased,  will  not  be  disputed  ;  and  that  the  ransom,  or 
price,  of  that  redemption  is  said  to  be  the  blood,  or  life,  of  Christ,  is 
frankly  acknowledged.  But  the  undisputed  truth  of  these  things 
makes  nothing  in  favour  of  justification  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
imputed  to  believers,  or  of  his  doing  and  suffering  as  their  surety  ; 
for  it  is  never  once  said  that  he  paid  his  life,  or  his  blood  to  God,  as  a 
ransom,  or  price  of  redemption  or  purchase,  or  that  by  his  life,  blood, 
or  any  other  means,  he  redeemed  his  people  from  the  hand  of  justice, 
or  of  God,  or  any  thing  else,  by  which  to  prove  that  God  held  the  peo- 
ple to  punishment,  and  would  not  let  them  live  and  be  happy,  without 
an  equivalent  or  payment ;  but  on  the  contrary,  that  he  redeemed  them 
to  God,  and  brought  them  back  to  him,  from  whom  they  had  gone  away, 
and  become  subject  to  another. 

These  things  will  appear  in  a  clear  point  of  view  by  a  judicious 
consideration  of  the  most  conspicuous  passages  of  Scripture,  which 
teach  in  explicit  terms /rom  whom  and  from  what  Christ  redeemed  his 
people.  And  by  these  it  will  appear  that  he  redeemed  them  from  the 
enemies  of  God  and  man,  as  from  the  devil;  from  sin  and  all  iniquity  ; 
from  vain  conversation ;  or  an  unprofitable  manner  of  living;  frotn  the  car- 
nal mind,  or  from  the  fleshly  principle  which  rules  in  men  and  holds 
them  in  bondage  ;  and  in   a  word,  from  every  thing  which  is  contrary 


112  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

to  God  and  subversive  of  the  true  happiness  of  men.  "  Now  is  the 
judgment  of  this  world  :  now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out. 
And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  to  me." 
"  That  through  death  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of 
death,  that  is,  the  devil ;  and  deliver  them,  who  through  fear  of  death, 
were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage."  "  And  that  they  may  re- 
cover themselves  out  of  the  snare  of  the  devil  who  are  led  captive  by 
him  at  his  will."  "  Unto  whom  now  I  send  thee,  to  open  their  eyes 
and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan 
to  God,  that  they  may  receive  the  forgiveness  of  sins."  "  But  if  I,  by 
the  finger  of  God,  cast  out  devils,  no  doubt  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come 
upon  you.  When  a  strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace,  his  goods 
are  in  peace  ;  but  when  a  stronger  than  he  shall  come  upon  him,  and 
overcome  him,  he  taketh  from  him  all  his  armour,  wherein  he  trusted, 
and  divideth  his  spoils."  (Jno.  xii.  31,  32  ;  Heb.  ii.  14,  15  ;  2  Tim. 
ii.  26  ;  Acts  xxvi.  18  ;  Luke  xi.  20,  21,  22.)  Thus  mankind  are 
justly  represented  as  being  under  the  power  of  the  devil,  and  led  cap- 
tive by  him  at  his  will, /or  the  whole  world  lielh  in  the  wicked  one.  But 
the  work  of  Christ  which  he  came  to  do,  is  to  redeem  them  that  obey 
him  from  the  devil,  and  destroy  his  power  over  them  :  "  Wherefore 
he  saith,  when  he  ascended  up  on  high,  he  led  captivity  captive  and 
gave  gifts  unto  men."     (Eph.  iv.  8.) 

Christ  also  redeems  his  people  from  sin  and  Irom  all  iniquity.  This 
is  the  same  as  to  redeem  them  from  the  devil,  for  "  he  that  com- 
mitteth  sin  is  of  the  devil,  for  the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning.  For 
this  purpose  the  Son  of  God  was  manifested  that  he  might  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil.  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin." 
"  But  if  we  walk  in  the  light  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship 
one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin."  "  Who  gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  to  himself  a  peculiar  people  zealous  of  good 
works."  "  And  he  shall  redeem  Israel  from  all  his  iniquities."  "  This 
is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  them.  After  those  days,  said  the 
Lord,  I  will  put  my  laws  in  their  hearts,  and  in  their  minds  will  I  write 
them  and  their  sins  and  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more.  (1  Jno. 
iii.  8,  9,  and  i.  7  ;  Tit.  ii.  14 ;  Psa.  cxxx.  8  ;  Heb.  x.  16, 17.)  Man- 
kind in  their  natural  and  fallen  state,  are  all  sinners,  servants  to  sin^nnder 
its  dominion,  dead  in  sin,  and  obnoxious  to  wrath,  and  the  work  of  Christ 
is  to  redeem  from  all  these  things.  "For  all  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God  ;  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  For  sin  shall  not  have  domin- 
ion over  you  :  for  ye  are  not  under  the  law  but  under  grace."  "  For 
when  5"e  were  the  servants  of  sin  ye  were  free  from  righteousness. 
What  fruit  had  ye  then  in  those  things  whereof  ye  are  now  ashamed  .'' 
for  the  end  of  those  things  is  death.  But  now,  being  made  free  from 
sin,  and  become  servants  to  God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto  holiness,  and 
the  end  everlasting  life.  For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  ;  but  the  gift  of 
God  is  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  "  And  you  hath 
he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins;  wherein,  in  time 
past,  ye  walked  according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  according  to  the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  chil- 
dren of  disobedience  :  among  whom  also  we  all  had  our  conversation,  in 


OF    JtrSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  113 

times  past,  in  the  lusts  of  our  flesh,  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh, 
and  of  the  mind  ;  and  were  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath,  even  as 
others."  (Rom.  iii.  23,24,  and  vi.  14,20-23;  Eph.  ii.  1,  2,  3.) 
Answerable  to  this  work  for  which  Christ  came  into  the  world,  and 
which  he  accomplishes  in  his  people,  he  has  his  name  ;  "  And  thou 
shalt  call  his  name  Jesus;  for  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their 
sins."  (Matt.  i..  21.)  Now  to  be  redeemed  from  sin,  the  cause  of 
death,  of  the  curse  and  all  evil,  is  to  be  redeemed  from  all  these  effects. 
Sublala  causa  tollitur  effectus ;  take  away  the  cause  and  the  effect 
will  cease.     Again  : 

Christ  redeems  from  vain  conversation,  or  an  unprofitable  manner  of 
living.  /'  Knowing  that  ye  were  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  as 
silver  and  gold,  from  your  vain  conversation  received  by  ti-adition  from 
your  fathers ;  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ."  (1  Pet.  i.  18, 
19.)  This  vain  conversation  doth  not  relate  merely  to  useless  discourse, 
of  which  no  doubt  they,  as  well  as  people  in  these  days,  had  a  great 
deal ;  old  wives'  fables  and  endless  genealogies,  which  are  unprofitable 
and  vain  ;  but  to  the  whole  circle  of  active  life,  and  with  the  utmost 
propriety,  to  the  vain  forms  and  ceremonies  of  religious  worship,  which 
they  had  received  of  their  fathers  by  tradition,  in  which  there  was  no- 
thing saving,  nothing  of  that  godly  edifying  which  is  in  the  faith  of  Christ. 
The  Greek  word  avas'po:p^g  ['^'^^strophees]  in  the  connection  in  which 
it  stands,  fully  justifies  an  acceptation  thus  extensive,  and  its  common 
use  in  the  Scriptures  is  not  contrary  thereto.  From  this  vain  circle  of 
life  and  religion  then,  in  v/hich  is  no  true  foundation  of  hope,  Christians 
are  redeemed  hy  Christ  through  his  blood,  or  life,  who  set  them  a 
better  example,  to  teach  them  and  lead  them  to  God  in  the  new  and 
living  way,  which  he  hath  consecrated,  at  the  expense  of  his  life  and 
blood,  through  the  vail,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh. 

Christ  having  redeemed  his  people  from  this  vain  conversation, 
it  follows  as  a  necessary  consequence  that  they  are  redeemed  from 
the  carnal  mind,  or  fleshly  principle,  which  rules  in  men  and  holds 
them  in  bondage  ;  for  that  is  the  very  core  and  foundation  of  the  vain 
conversation  of  the  world,  as  it  is  before  written,  "  And  you  hath  he 
quickened,  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins  ;  wherein  in  time 
past  ye  also  walked  according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  according 
to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in 
the  children  of  disobedience :  among  whom  also  we  all  had  our  con- 
versation, [dva5-po(p*)v,]  in  times  past,  in  the  lusts  of  our  flesh,  fulfill- 
ing the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind  ;  and  were  by  nature  the 
children  of  wrath  even  as  others."  Out  of  the  wretched  state,  there- 
fore, of  death  and  carnality,  Christ  redeems  his  people,  or  which  is 
the  same,  God  in  Christ,  and  quickeneth  them  together  with  him. 
"  But  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for  [or  through]  his  great  love 
wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins,  hath  quick- 
ened us  together  with  Christ ;  (by  grace  ye  are  saved ;)  and  hath 
raised  us  up  together,  and  made  us  sit  together  in  heavenly  places 
in  Christ  Jesus."  (Eph.  ii.  1-6.) 

That   Christ  has  redeemed  us  from  the   curse  of  the  law,   being 
made  a  curse  for  us,  has  been  already  shown,  as  well  as  how  he  did 
it,  that  is  to  say,  by  suffering  himself  to  be  taken  and  by  false   accu- 
sation hanged  on  a  tree,  and  thereby  suffering  the  curse  which  that 
9 


114  OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

law  aBnounced  against  malefactors,  whieli  co-ulcl  inflict  a  curse,  but 
could  not  give  spiritual  life,  because  it   did  not  furnish  its  subjects 
with  power  or  motive  to  keep  it,  except  outwardly,  and  finally,  by 
taking  it  out  of  the  way,  or  putting  it  to  death.     And  in  so  doing  he 
delivers  us  from  the  law  also,  that  imperfect  law  which  worketh  death, 
and  also  from  that  carnal  mind  which  was  patronized  by  the  law  :  for, 
to  be  under  the  law  seemeth  unavoidably  to  imply  being  in  the  flesh. 
These  things  are  taught  in  the  following  Scripture  :     "  Wherefore, 
my  brethren,  ye  are  become  dead  to  the  law  by  the  body  of  Christ ; 
[Christ  therefore  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  law  ;]   that  ye   should 
be  married  to  another,  even  to  him  who  is  raised  from  the  dead,  that 
we  should  bring  forth  fruit  to  God.     For  when  we  were  in  the  flesh, 
[under  the  law,  or  not  married  to  Christ,]  the  motions  of  sins,  which 
were  by  the  law,  [thus  the  law  could  excite  those  motions,  that  is, 
lusts  in  the  members,  but  could  not  extinguish  them,]    did  work  in 
our  members  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto  death.     But  now  tee  are  deliv- 
ered from  the  law,  thai  being  dead  wherein  ice  icere  held,  that  we  should 
serve  in  newness  of  spirit,  and  not  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter." 
(Rom.  vii.  4,   5,  6.)      Thus  it  was  left  for  Christ  alone  to  have  the 
honour  of  redeeming  us  from  the  law  and  the  curse  which  was  in  it, 
and  the   carnal  mind,   or  sin  in  the   flesh,   which  is  the  cause  of  the 
curse  and  the  necessity  of  the  law,  which  was  added  because  of  trans- 
gressions until  the  seed  should  come.     For  that  the  carnal  mind,  or 
sin  in  the  flesh,  was  patronized  by  the  law,  and  never  condemned 
until  Christ  came,  is  evident  from  the  Apostle's  words  :  "For  God, 
sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  on  account 
of  sin,  [because  it  stood  in  the  way  and  must  be  removed,]  condemn- 
ed sin  in  the  flesh  ;  that  which  the  law  could  not   do,   [or  the  impos- 
sibility of  the  law,]  in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh  ;"  for  it  suf- 
fered its  subjects  to  live  in  the  flesh,  and  never  told  them  it  was  wrong, 
but  adapted  its  injunctions  to  that  manner  of  life,  in  meats  and  drinks, 
and  divers  washings   and  carnal  ordinances,  that  i's,  justifications  of 
the  flesh,  in  the  original  Greek.     (Rom.  viii.  3  ;  Heb.  ix.  10.   SeeB. 
W.  Stone's  Address,  p.  29.) 

Thus  we  have  taken  a  compendious,  though  decisive  view  of  the 
question,  from  whom  and  from  what  Christ  hath  redeemed  his  people, 
and  still  goeth  on  to  redeem  those  who  commit  themselves  to  his  guid- 
ance. And  no  evidence  appears  on  which  to  ground  our  belief,  that 
he  ever  redeemed  them  from  God,  or  from  the  hand  of  justice,  as 
some  say,  or  that  God  at  all  required  any  payment  of  Christ  in  their 
stead,  or  any  value,  or  satisfaction  for  what  they  had  done,  in  order 
to  his  being  willing  to  give  them  full  salvation,  or  any  thing  of  the 
kind.  On  the  contrary,  God,  even  that  God  who  was  in  Christ  re- 
conciling the  world  to  himself,  is  their  Redeemer  and  their  jpurchas- 
er.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  King  of  Israel,  and  his  Redeemer, 
the  Lord  of  hosts  :  I  am  the  first  and  I  am  the  last ;  and  besides  me 
there  is  no  God."  "Take  heed  therefore — to  feed  the  Church  of 
God  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood."  (Isa.  xliv.  6; 
Acts  XX.  28.)  Now  God  could  not  purchase  or  redeem  his  people 
from  himself;  but  he  could  redeem  them  from  the  devil,  from  sin 
and  iniquity,  or  from  their  vain  conversation,  at  the  expense  of 
the  blood  of  his  own  Son  ;    "  For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  ye  have  sold 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  115 

yourselves  for  nouglit ;  and  ye  shall  be  redeemed  without  money." 
(^Isa.  Hi.  3.) 

Several  Greek  words  are  used  by  the  Apostles  on  this  subject, 
which  are  translated  into  the  English  vfovds, purchase,  buy  and  redeem. 
But  the  word  rendered,  purchased,  [^rspiS'/roiVaTo,  acquired,]  where 
we  read  that  God  purchased  his  Church  by  his  own  blood,  is  never 
by  them  used  where  an  actual  purchase  was  made  or  proposed  by 
oflFering  value  for  value.  The  same  is  to  be  said  of  the  phrase,  jowr- 
chased  possession,  [r^s  irspi'nfoi'rjdsug,  the  acquisition.]  It  is  a  word 
seldom  used,  and  expresses  the  obtaining  or  acquiring  of  an  object 
by  perseverance  in  good  conduct.  Thus,  "  they  that  have  used 
the  office  of  a  deacon  well,  purchase  to  themselves  a  good  degree, 
and  great  boldness  in  the  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  (l  Tim. 
iii.  13.)  But  if  the  word  be  maintained  to  mean  a  purchase  by  a 
price  paid,  it  will  equally  prove  that  Christians  purchase  their  own 
salvation  by  a  price  paid  by  them,  as  that  Christ  purchased  them  by 
a  price  paid  by  him.  For  the  same  word,  excepting  the  distinction 
of  noun  and  verb,  is  used  to  express  the  acquisition  of  salvation  by 
them.  "  Whereunto  he  hath  called  you  by  our  Gospel,  to  the  ob- 
taining [sis  ■TTSpfn'ofTjo'iv]  of  the  glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "  But 
we  are  not  of  them  who  draw  back  to  perdition  ;  but  of  them  that 
believe  to  the  saving  [sig  ■TrspcyroiTjo'iv]  of  the  soul."  (2  Thess.  ii.  14, 
Heb.  X.  39.)  Neither  is  the  word  purchase,  buy  or  redeem  ever 
applied  to  this  subject,  where  it  will  justify  the  notion  of  a  price  paid 
for  the  redemption  of  the  people.  These  words  are  used  by  the 
sacred  writers  on  this  subject  in  quite  a  different  sense,  and  are 
universally  figurative.  "  Remember  thy  congregation,  which  thou 
hast  purchased  of  old  ;  the  rod  of  thine  inheritance  which  thou  hast 
redeemed:  this  mount  Zion  wherein  thou  hast  dwelt."  (Psa.  Ixxiv. 
2.)  Now  what  did  God  ever  give  for  this  congregation  which  he 
purchased,  or  this  inheritance  which  he  redeemed  ?  The  history  of 
their  redemption  shows,  that  he  gave  the  Egyptians  to  death  and 
destruction,  and  vanquished  the  Canaanites  before  them,  that  Israel 
might  inherit  the  land.  "  I  gave  Egypt  for  thy  ransom  ;  Ethiopia 
and  Seba  for  thee."  (Isa.  xliii.  3.)  Thus  God  purchased  his  Church 
and  congregation,  redeeming  them  by  conquest. 

In  like  manner,  when  Christ  redeemed  his  people  from  their  spiritual 
enemies,  as  from  the  devil,  or  from  all  iniquity,  what  did  he  give  to 
the  devil  for  their  redemption.^  Destruction.  '■'^ He  led  captivity 
captive,  and  gave  gifts  to  men  ;  he  gained  their  liberty  by  conquest. 
Haviny  spoiled  principalities  and  powers  he  made  a  show  of  them  openly, 
triumphing  over  them  by  the  cross.''"'  (Col.  ii.  15.)  Thus  Christ  re- 
deemed his  people  who  are  called  The  purchased  possession,  by  the 
conquest  of  their  enemies.  But  the  difficulty  will  remain  in  the 
minds  of  some,  that  God's  people  are  actually  redeemed  by  price  as 
well  as  by  power.  The  Church  of  God  which  he  hath  purchased  by 
his  own  blood,  is  the  explicit  language  of  Scripture  ;  and  the  Apostle 
in  his  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  hath  these  words  in  two  places, 
Ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  (vi.  20,  and  vii.  23.)  Thus  the  blood  of 
God,  or  of  Christ,  is  counted  the  real  price  of  redemption,  which  is 
also  confirmed  by  other  Scriptures,  as  this,  "  For  thou  wast  slain  and 
hasif-  -edeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood. "  (Rev.  v.  9. )     If  then  this  be 


116  OF    JUSTEFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION. 

considered  as  a  real  price  given  for  tlie  people,  or  for  their  redemp- 
tion, a  question  will  arise  ;  Who  received  it  ?  I  have  before  proved 
that  Christ  redeemed  his  people  from  the  common  enemy  of  God  and 
man.  1  have  also  shown  what  he  gave  to  the  devil  for  their  deliver- 
ance— Destruction.  The  only  sense,  then,  in  which  it  can  be  said 
that  the  blood  of  Christ  is  the  price  of  our  redemption  is,  that  he 
spent  his  life,  or  spilt  his  blood,  in  opposing  the  enemy,  by  which  he 
finally  overcame  him.  And  this  agrees  with  the  words  of  the  Apostle : 
"  Forasmuch,  then,  as  the  children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood, 
he  also  himself  likewise  took  part  of  the  same  ;  that  through  death  he 
might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil  ; 
and  deliver  those  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  lifetime 
subject  to  bondage."  (Heb.  ii.  14,  15.)  This  statement  of  the 
Apostle  shows,  that  the  taking  of  the  life,  or  blood,  of  Christ,  is  no 
treasure  of  joy  or  consolation  to  the  devil,  but  proves  his  destruction 
throughout  all  his  dominions,  wherever  souls  are  turned  from  the 
power  of  Satan  to  God.  Such  exclamations,  therefore,  as  '•'•That  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ  was  given  by  God  to  the  devil  in  payment .'" 
that,  '■'•God  was  so  merciless  as  to  deliver  up  his  only  Son,  to  glut  the 
mxlice  of  a  blood-thirsty  demon!''''  that,  '•'■The  Lamb  of  God  was 
immolated  on  the  altar  of  hell ^'"  are  only  vain  parade,  becoming  a  mind 
infatuated  with  ungenerous  prepossession,  or  insanity.  (See  Campbell's 
Strictures  on  Stone's  letters.)  This  doctrine  promises  the  devil  no 
good  thing,  no  satisfying  acquisition. 

That  the  Lamb  of  God,  however,  was  immolated  on  the  altar  of 
hell,  is  true  ;  though  not  by  God's  appointment,  but  by  the  contri- 
vance and  malice  of  the  devil  and  wicked  men,  as  has  been  shown. 
And  how  much  more  consistent  is  this  view  of  the  subject ;  that  the 
devil  should  be  offended  against  the  Son  of  God  who  came  to  destroy 
his  works  and  overturn  his  government,  should  hate  him  and  put  him 
to  death,  (seeing  he  was  man  and  therefore  capajjle  of  dying,)  than 
that  God  should  immolate  his  own  Son  on  the  altar  of  heaven,  to 
spend  on  him  the  relentless  fury  which  glowed  in  his  heart  against 
the  crimes  of  others  ?  But  while  the  serpent  bruised  his  heel,  he 
bruised  the  serpent's  head  according  to  the  promise.  But  neither 
Barton  in  his  Letters,  nor  we,  in  any  of  our  faith  or  ministrations, 
teach  any  such  thing,  as  that  the  precious  blood  of  Christ  was  given 
by  God  to  the  devil  in  payment ;  although  we  teach  it  as  much  as  the 
Scriptures  teach  that  that  same  precious  blood  was  given  by  God  to 
God  in  payment  for  man's  redemption  !  Neither  do  we,  nor  Barton, 
teach,  that  "God  delivered  up  his  only  Son  to  glut  the  malice  of  a 
blood-thirsty  demon  ;"  although  there  would  be  as  much  reason  and 
propriety  in  believing  that  he  delivered  him  up  for  a  season,  that  the 
people  might  escape  from  the  devil,  as  in  believing  that  he  delivered 
up  that  same  only  Son  to  glut  the  revengeful  fury  of  a  blood-thirsty 
Deity  !  to  render  him  propitious  enough  to  agree  that  the  people 
might  forsake  the  demon  and  serve  him,  or  be  willing  to  give  them 
aid  to  do  so.  May  not  a  man  of  sober  reflection  say,  that  of  the  two 
plans,  it  would  require  an  artist,  a  philosopher,  or  an  angel,  to  deter- 
mine which  would  be  the  worst  demon,  the  devil  or  the  Deity. 
When,  0  when  will  men  discard  such  unscriptural  notions  ! 

It  hath  been  already  proved  that  God  is  the  Redeemer  of  his  peo- 


OF    JUSTIFICATION    AND    IMPUTATION.  117 

pie,  that  they  are  redeemed  to  God,  and  not  from  him,  or  from  his 
justice.  "Thou  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  hy  thy  blood,"  is  the  tri- 
bute of  praise  offered  to  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  therefore  proved  that 
no  price  was  ever  paid  to  God  for  man's  redemption,  for  him  or  in 
his  stead.  Could  God  purchase  his  people  from  himself.?  or 
would  he  pay  himself  for  their  redemption  .'  Yet  his  people  are 
bought  with  a  price — the  blood,  or  life,  of  Jesus  Christ.  For  his  life 
is  as  properly  called  the  price  of  redemption  as  his  blood.  For  the 
Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister  ;  and  to 
give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.  Thus  the  American  colonies,  now 
United  States,  were  bought  with  a  price  from  the  British  yoke  ; 
they  were  bought  with  the  life  and  blood  of  the  heroes  of  liberty 
whom  Britain  slew,  while  America  was  contending  for  her  freedom. 
But  who  paid  Britain  any  price,  as  a  reward  for  our  liberation .''  Or 
what  did  Congress,  or  rather  God  by  them,  pay  to  Britain  for  our 
redemption  from  the  British  yoke  .''  Death — blood  and  conquest — 
destruction  of  the  British  power  wherever  the  American  principles  of 
liberty  prevail.  This  may  serve  to  ekicidate  the  doctrine  of  Christ's 
people  being  bought  with  a  price,  in  the  only  sense  in  which  it  can  be 
supported  by  revelation. 

But  finally  here.  The  concluding  argument  with  some,  for  the 
death  of  Christ  as  a  satisfaction  paid  to  the  justice  of  God  for  our 
offences,  the  price  of  our  redemption  and  the  procuring  cause  of 
our  justification,  imiouted  to  us,  is,  that  had  God  forgiven  the  human 
race  and  restored  them  to  favour,  without  an  expiating  sacrifice,  other 
worlds,  perhaps  the  inhabitants  of  the  jolanetary  system,  would 
have  been  exposed  to  take  license  to  rebel  in  like  manner  against 
the  government  of  God.  This,  indeed,  appears  like  the  last  effort 
of  despair  in  support  of  a  tottering  cause.  Who  hath  ever  told 
us  that  the  inhabitants  of  other  globes  know  any  thing  of  our  con- 
duet  more  than  we  do  of  theirs  i  And  if  any  of  them  be  exposed  to 
avail  themselves  of  an  occasion  or  a  pretext  to  rebel,  who  can  tell 
from  which  source  they  would  draw  the  most  flattering  encourage- 
ment, provided  they  were  informed  of  both,  from  God's  forgiving 
without  an  expiatory  payment,  or  from  his  demanding  it  and  pro- 
viding it  himself,  clear  of  all  expense  to  the  rebels,  and  so  paying  him- 
self.?  Can  any  man  be  prevailed  upon  to  build  the  hope  of  eternal 
life  on  such  unscriptural  arguments  ;  too  conjectural  to  enter  the 
heart  of  any  one  who  views  matters  as  they  appear  according  to  evi- 
dence .'' 

In  the  process  of  this  inquiry,  however,  it  is  found  that  there  is  no 
conclusive  argument  in  favour  of  justification  by  the  imputed  righteous- 
ness of  Christ.  That  doctrine  also  fails  of  proof  from  every  quarter  ; 
because,  without  any  forced  construction,  all  the  teachings  of  revela- 
tion are  easily  understood  without  implying  it,  and  the  burden  of 
these  teachings  explicitly  maintain  the  contrary  ;  it  is  not  found  in 
the  Scriptures.  We  are  therefore  at  full  liberty  to  return  to  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith  and  obedience,  and  find  it  unf oiled. 
And  it  is  truly  the  only  plan  of  justification  which  can  leave  a  reason- 
able mind  free  from  embarrassment,  and  in  union  with  the  Father  who., 
without  respect  of  persons,  judgeth  according  to  every  man's  xvork.  ( 1 
Pet.  i.  17.) 


118  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED, 


CHAPTER    X. 

OBJECTIONS    AGAINST    THE    FOREGOING    DOCTRINES    STATED    ANO 
OBVIATED. 

Although  some  occasional  objections  may  have  been  answered 
wbere  they  occurred,  so  many  will  be  raised,  and  some  of  them  so 
extensive,  that  it  appears  most  advisable  to  include  the  most  consider- 
able of  them  in  a  chapter  expressly  for  that  purpose.  Some  of  them 
will  likely  appear  more  like  discussing  other  doctrines  than  answering 
objections ;  but  as  they  all  come  in  opposition  to  the  doctrine  hereto- 
fore stated,  as  well  as  what  will  follow,  I  have  concluded  to  treat  them 
all  in  the  line  of  objections.     And, 

1st.  It  is  objected  that  the  law  must  be  magnified  and  made  honour- 
able— that  mankind  have  broken  the  law  and  are  unable  to  restore  it : 
this  therefore  must  be  the  work  of  Christ  in  their  stead.  "  The  Lord 
is  well  pleased  for  his  righteousness'  sake  ;  he  will  magnify  the  law, 
and  make  it  honourable.  (Isa.  xlii.  21.)  These  words  are  read  with 
application  to  Christ  as  obeying  the  law,  magnifying  and  making  it 
honourable,  in  the  room  of  men,  as  their  surety,  so  that  God  the  Fa- 
ther is  well  pleased  with  them  for  the  sake  of  his  obedience,  or  right- 
eousness. 

But  such  a  use  of  this  text  evidently  indicates  a  previously  con- 
structed plan  into  which  it  is  pressed.  A  man  must  be  hardly  be- 
set for  support  to  a  favourite  scheme,  if  he  will  consider  this  Scrip- 
ture in  its  connection,  and  then  employ  it  with  confidence  to  defend 
the  notion  of  justification  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed. 
For  there  is  not  one  word,  either  in  this  text  or  its  connection,  to  show 
that  it  relates  to  Christ  in  any  part  of  the  character  peculiar  to  him 
as  Mediator.  The  character  described,  in  the  immediately  pre- 
ceding part  of  the  paragraph,  is  excessively  wicked  and  disobedient, 
in  no  sense  or  respect  applicable  to  Christ,  who  as  a  Son  was  obedient 
in  all  his  Father's  house.  So  far  then  are  these  words  from  speaking 
of  any  mediatorial  or  surety  righteousness,  that  they  are  applicable  to 
God  only,  or  Jehovah,  in  the  most  absolute  sense,  as  resting  satisfied 
with  his  own  righteousness,  or  justice  towards  that  rebellious  people, 
and  proposing  to  vindicate  his  own  law,  without  any  intimation  of  the 
order,  or  plan,  in  which  salvation  is  to  be  obtained,  only  that  God 
will  show  it.  Let  us  take  a  view  of  these  words  in  their  connection. 
"  Hear,  ye  deaf;  and  look,  ye  blind,  that  ye  may  see.  Who  is  blind 
but  my  servant  ?  or  deaf,  as  my  messenger  that  I  sent .''  [These 
are  not  the  characteristics  of  Christ ;  he  was  neither  blind  nor 
deaf.]  Who  is  blind  as  he  that  is  perfect,  [or  according  to  Lowthe, 
perfecthj  instructed,  or  as  the  Hebrew,  ivelt  compensated.  At  all 
events  a  perfect  one  is  not  blind,]  and  blind  as  the  Lord's  servant  ? 
[Israel  ?]  Seeing  many  things,  [the  mighty  works  of  God,]  but 
thou  observest  not ;  opening  the  ears,  [as  if  to  listen,]  but  he  hear- 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  119 

eth  not."  [Heb.  He  will  not  hear.]  These  things  do  not  bespeak 
the  character  of  Christ,  the  obedient  Son  or  servant  of  God.  The 
prophet  then  breathes  out  this  reflection  concerning  the  faithfulness  of 
God  and  the  perfection  of  his  work  in  the  event.  "  The  Lord  is  well 
pleased  for  his  righteousness'  sake;  [Jehovah  is  satisfied  and  enjoys 
his  own  good  pleasure  with  regard  to  the  justice  of  his  dealings  to- 
wards his  people  ;  and  in  the  event,]  he  will  magnify  the  law,  [which 
he  hath  promulgated]  and  make  it  honourable  ;"  [let  this  people  ruin 
themselves  as  they  may.]  This  construction  is  confirmed  by  the 
Greek  translation  of  the  seventy  Jews,  who,  it  must  be  expected,  un- 
derstood their  own  language. 

But  however  true,  that  the  law  of  God  must  be  magnified  and 
made  honourable,  and  that  Christ  performed  the  same  in  the  most 
perfect  degree,  the  notion  of  his  doing  this  in  the  room  of  others  as 
their  surety,  is  without  foundation  in  the  Scriptures.  The  Lord  is 
well  pleased  for  his  righteousness'  sake.  With  whom .?  No  doubt 
with  him  who  doeth  righteousness.  He  shall  magnify  the  law  and 
make  it  honourable.  But  not  a  word  of  its  being  done  by  one  in  the 
room  of  another.  Obedience  is  confessedly  the  greatest  honour  which 
the  law  could  receive ;  and  admitting  that  it  received  the  first  and 
most  perfect  obedience  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  and  was  more  hon- 
oured and  magnified,  or  set  forth  more  gloriously,  by  the  obedience 
of  the  Son  of  God,  than  it  could  possibly  have  been  by  the  obedience 
of  any  inferior  character,  his  obedience  was  not  to  release  or  prevent 
his  people  from  yielding  the  same,  or  from  honoiTring  and  magnifying 
the  law  in  their  place,  as  his  true  followers,  but  rather  to  lead  them 
into  a  more  perfect  obligation,  and  more  correct  obedience,  by  his 
humiliating  example.  "  Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in 
Christ."  "  Purge  out,  therefore,  the  old  leaven,  that  ye  may  be- 
come a  new  lump,  as  ye  are  unleavened.  For  even  Christ  our  pass- 
over  is  sacrificed  for  us."  "  Forasmuch  then  as  Christ  hath  once 
suffered  for  us  in  the  flesh,  arm  yourselves  with  the  same  mind  :  for  he 
that  hath  suffered  in  the  flesh  hath  ceased  from  sin;  that  he  no  longer 
should  live  the  rest  of  his  time  in  the  flesh,  to  the  lusts  of  men  but  to 
the  will  of  God."  "  Be  ye,  therefore,  followers  of  God,  as  dear  chil- 
dren ;  and  walk  in  love,  as  Christ  also  hath  loved  us,  and  hath  given 
himself  for  us,  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God  for  a  sweet-smelling 
savour."  (Phil.  ii.  5  ;   1  Cor.  v.  7  ;  1  Pet.  iv.  1,  2 ;  Eph.  v.  1,  2.) 

This  argument  is  acknowledged  in  its  main  position  in  a  book  of 
great  authority  among  a  large  class  of  professors.  The  words  are 
these  ;  the  moral  law  doth  forever  bind  all,  as  well  justified  persons 
as  others,  to  the  obedience  thereof;  and  that  not  only  in  regard  to  the 
matter  contained  in  it,  but  also  in  respect  to  the  authority  of  God 
who  gave  it.  Neither  doth  Christ  in  the  Gospel  any  way  dissolve, 
but  strengthen  this  obligation."  (See  Presb.  Conf.  of  Faith,  Chap, 
xix.  Sec.  5.)  There  is  not  therefore  even  a  plausible  pretext  for  jus- 
tification by  surety  righteousness. 

2d.  Many  have  insisted  that  the  idea  of  justification  by  obedience 
is  agreeable  to  the  carnal  nature  of  men,  and  that  their  pride  being 
opposed  to  salvation  by  grace,  and  justification  by  the  righteousness 
of  another,  is  the  reason  they  reject  that  plan,  counting  it  dishonoura- 
ble and  degrading  to  their  own  worth,  to  be  justified  without  taking 


120  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

their  own  deeds  and  wortMness  into  the  account.  That  men  in  na- 
ture are  governed  by  a  spirit  of  carnality,  pride,  and  self-will,  is  not 
to  be  disputed.  But  it  is  also  undeniable  that  the  spirit  of  carnality 
and  pride  leads  men  a  very  diiferent  way  from  obedience — quite  the 
reverse:  "  So  that  when  they  knew  God  they  glorified  him  not  as 
God,  neither  were  they  thankful ;"  "  Who  were  dead  in  trespassess 
and  sins,  [these  are  the  fruits  of  the  carnal  mind,  not  good  works,) 
wherein  in  time  past  ye  walked,  according  to  the  course  of  this  world, 
according  to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  now 
worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience  :  (not  in  such  as  love  to  do 
good  works:)  among  whom  we  all  had  our  conversation  in  times  past 
in  the  lusts  of  our  flesh,  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the 
mind  ;  and  were  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath  even  as  others." 
"  And  you  that  were  sometimes  alienated,  and  enemies  in  your  mind  by 
wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  he  reconciled."  (Eph.  ii.  1-3;  CoL 
i.  21.)  This  carnal  mind,  which  is  enmity  against  God,  doth  not 
leadmentoobedience  orgoodworks,butto  wicked  works  :  andmenare 
enemies  to  God  by  wicked  works  and  not  by  good  works  or  obedience. 

It  is  unquestionable  that  men  love  carnal  ease  and  the  indulgence 
of  their  own  natures,  in  the  neglect  of  obedience  to  God,  else  why  so 
little  obedience,  so  few  good  works  among  those  who  hope  for  salva- 
tion.-"  Whether  they  expect  justification  by  their  obedience  or  by 
Christ's  righteousness  imputed,  (for  both  acknowledge  the  propriety 
of  good  works,)  the  name  of  God  is  blasphemed  through  them,  for 
the  want  of  the  fruits  of  faith  in  good  works.  But  true  faith  leads 
directly  to  obedience  :  it  worketh  by  love,  and  by  works  it  is  made 
perfect. 

And  so  far  is  the  above  objection  carried  by  some,  that  the  practi- 
cal self-denial  taught  by  Jesus  Christ,  for  a  man  to  deny  himself  and 
take  up  his  cross  and  follow  him,  seems  to  be  construed  away  into  a 
denial  of  any  capability  to  do  what  Christ  proposed  as  the  true  me- 
thod to  partake  with  him  ;  and  for  a  man  to  deny  that  any  of  his  most 
honest  obedience  or  faithful  services  can  be  acceptable  to  God,  so  as 
to  have  any  part  in  his  own  personal  acceptance,  or  justification,  is 
counted  the  true  self-denial.  A  kind  of  self-denial  this,  unknown  in 
the  Scriptures  and  unsupported  by  its  authority,  as  well  as  expressly 
contrary  to  its  dictates ;  "  For  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified  and 
by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  condemned,"  (in  the  day  of  judgment.) 
"  Ye  see  then  how  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith 
only."  "  Well  done — Yea,  this  is  it;  Well  done,  thou  good  and 
faithful  servant !  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  thou  hast 
done  th'j  duty — I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things :  enter  thou  in- 
to the  joy  of  thy  Lord — Be  a  partaker  of  the  joy  of  the  Lord  in  his 
final  appearing."   (Matt.  xii.  37  ;  Jas.  ii.  24  ;  Matt.  xxv.  21,  &c.) 

Never  was  there  a  doctrine  more  soothing  to  the  carnal  mind,  which 
loves  its  own  ease  and  its  own  ways,  than  that  of  justification  by  faith 
without  obedience,  or  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed — 
never  a  doctrine  more  congenial  with  the  carnal  heart,  which  hates 
obedience  and  duty  to  God,  than  that  which  is  connected  with  that  of 
imputation,  the  necessary  inability  of  the  unregenerale  man  to  perform 
the  duty  which  he  owes  to  God  ;  to  believe,  to  obey,  or  to  perform 
any  thing  acceptable,  until  God   come  and  perform  the  saving  work 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  121 

in  his  heart.  When  the  alarm  is  sounded — Escape  for  your  lives — 
flee  from  the  icrath  to  come — save  yourselves  from  this  uvtoioard  genera- 
lion — work  out  your  salvation.  O,  how  agreeable  the  siren  song  :  It 
is  all  in  vain — ye  cannot  save  yourselves — the  best  ye  can  do  is  but  sin, 
until  God  give  you  faith — your  works  cannot  he  acceptable  until  you  get 
a  new  disposition — ye  need  not  toil  and  slave  yourselves  for  nought — ye 
may  as  well  he  at  ease  until  God''s  time  come,  and  he  give  you  a  new 
heart.  Hence  the  cold  formality,  the  dull  stupidity,  the  egregious 
insensibility  towards  spiritual  things,  which  so  abundantly  prevail 
among  the  people  of  that  faith.  Hence  also  the  painful  labour  of 
the  apostle  James,  with  those  who  had  fallen  into  the  notion  of  justi- 
fication by  faith,  without  works,  to  prove  to  them  that  they  were 
wrong,  and  did  not  bear  the  marks  of  true  Christians  at  all. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  man  is  awake  to  a  lively  sense  of 
his  need  of  salvation,  his  soul  engulfed  in  sin  and  enveloped  in  the 
above  doctrine  with  its  concomitants,  this  produces  another  state  of 
things.  No  justification  without  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed 
and  received  by  faith  alone,  no  faith  without  regeneration,  no  re- 
generation without  imputation,  no  imputation  without  faith,  and  so 
on.  No  praying  and  crying  to  God,  no  seeking  after  God,  no  con- 
fessions and  repentance,  no  attempts  for  deliverance,  but  what  are 
all  sin,  because  in  unbelief — to  call  on  God  is  sin,  to  neglect,  say  they, 
is  no  less — inevitable  death  and  damnation  without  faith  and  repent- 
ance ;  and  these  cannot  be  had  unless  God,  by  his  irrevocable  de- 
crees, may  possibly  have  fixed  matters  so,  in  the  foundation  ofJiis 
own  plan  which  never  had  a  beginning.  Of  this  matter  the  man  has 
no  knowledge  ;  God  hath  never  revealed  the  particulars  of  his  de- 
crees, and  he  is  at  least  as  likely  to  be  left  out  of  the  happy  number 
as  not.  Then  all  is  hopeless ;  and  after  all  his  sufferings,  alarms 
and  cries  for  mercy,  he  must  be  condemned  to  hell,  to  suffer  the 
eternal  vengeance  of  God  due  to  him  for  his  sins,  because  God  would 
not  impute  to  him  the  righteousness  of  Christ — "  Because  he  hath 
not  believed  in  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God  ;"  because 
he  hath  not  received  that  gift  or  grace,  which  God  from  the  origin  of 
his  own  nature,  which  never  had  a  beginning,  hath  decreed  irreversi- 
bly not  to  give.  Now  the  doctrines  of  justification  by  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  imputed,  of  faith,  as  the  direct  and  sovereignly  free 
gift  of  God,  and  of  absolute  decrees,  are  all  in  one  scale.  But  a  gloom 
attends  these  doctrines  of  men,  which  so  misrepresent  the  dealings  of 
God,  too  distressing  for  the  human  mind  to  brook. 

But  tell  me,  ye  who  say  mankind  naturally  love  the  plan  of  justifi- 
cation by  their  own  obedience,  and  oppose  the  contrary  because  it 
hurts  their  pride  ;  why  do  not  they  yield  obedience  ^  For,  corrupt 
as  men  are,  they  are  intelligent  beings,  and  by  far  the  greater  part 
expect,  more  or  less,  to  stand  or  fall  on  that  ground.  It  is  the  most 
consistent  with  rationality.  Why  then  are  they  not  found  in  daily 
obedience  .?  why  not  saving  themselves  from  this  untoward  genera- 
tion ?  But  daily  experience  proves,  in  those  who  maintain  the  plan 
of  justification  by  faith  alone,  as  well  as  in  those  who  look  for  it  by 
works  also,  that  the  human  heart  is  not  so  much  opposed  to  any  plan, 
as  to  real  subjection  to  God  in  the  obedience  of  faith. 

3d.  Another  objection  is,  that  many  of  the  argiunents  employed  to 


122  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

prove  justification  hj  the  obedience  of  faith,  more  properly  apply  to 
sanctification,  perseverance,  and  increase  in  the  grace  of  the  Gospel. 
Thus  men  suppose  justification  is  the  immediate  efi'ect  of  one  cause, 
and  sanctification  of  another  ;  justification  being  instantaneous  by 
faith,  by  taking  hold  of  Christ  and  his  righteousness  imputed,  and 
sanctification  progressive  by,  as  we  may  say,  the  obedience  of  faith, 
or  obeying  the  truth.  Some  call  the  first  an  act  of  God's  free  grace, 
and  the  second  a  work  of  his  Spirit. 

But  by  the  same  act,  or  gift  of  God,  by  which  Christ  becomes  our 
righteousness,  he  also  becomes  our  sanctification  and  redemption. 
"  But  of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us 
wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  .sanctification,  and  redemption."  (1 
Cor.  i.  30.)  If  then  he  is  made  our  righteousness  or  justification  by 
imputation,  he  is  made  our  sanctification  in  the  same  way.  For  ac- 
cording to  the  Scriptures,  God's  people  are  sanctified  by  faith  as  well 
as  justified  ;  "  That  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inherit- 
ance among  them  that  are  sanctified  by  faith,  that  is  in  me."  "  And 
put  no  difference  between  us  and  them,  purifying  their  hearts  by 
faith."  "  But  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justi- 
fied, in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God." 
(Acts  xxvi.  18,  and  XV.  9;  1  Cor.  vi.  11.)  Thus  justification  and 
sanctification  are  attained  by  the  same  means,  and  uniformly  go  to- 
gether, so  that  one  cannot  exist  without  the  other.  If  then  Chris- 
tians sanctify  themselves  in  obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  they  are  also  justified  in  the  same  way.  If  God  sanctifies 
them  through  the  truth,  which  is  his  word,  given  to  them  in  Christ, 
and  which  they  also  receive  and  obey,  they  are  also  justified  in  the 
same  way,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  "  Sanctify  them  through 
thy  truth  ;  thy  word  is  truth.  And  for  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself, 
that  they  also  might  be  sanctified  through  the  truth."  (Jno.  xvii.  17, 
19  ;  Compare  1  Pet.  i.  22.) 

Justification  therefore  and  sanctification  are  attained  by  the  same 
means,  as  well  as  promoted  in  perseverance,  and  in  the  increase  of 
every  grace  of  the  Spirit  to  final  redemption.  "  Whereto  we  have 
already  attained,  let  us  walk  by  the  same- rule,  let  us  mind  the 
same  thing."  "  But  he  that  endureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved." 
(Phil.  iii.  16.     Matt.  x.  22.) 

And  in  this  view  of  the  subject  we  may  see  how  Christ  is  made  of 
God  to  us.  Wisdom;  because  he  revealeth  to  us  God  the  Father,  and 
teacheth  us  the  things  of  God.  "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time  ;  the  only  begotten  Son  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he 
hath  declared  him."  Righteousness  or  justification,  The  Lord  our 
righteousness,  by  declaring  or  demonstrating  to  us  the  righteousness 
of  God,  as  he  revealed  the  Father  himself  in  his  own  life  and  exam- 
ple, "  Whom  God  hath  set  forth  a  mercy-seat  through  faith  in  his 
blood,  [in  that  life  which  he  lived,  the  character  which  he  sustained, 
and  the  end  which  he  had  in  view  in  living  such  a  life  at  the  expense 
of  his  blood,]  to  declare  [Greek,  for  a  demonstration  of]  his  righteous- 
ness for  the  remission  of  sins,  that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance 
of  God  ;  [not  through  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  ;]  to  declare 
[for  a  demonstration  of]  his  righteousness,  that  he  might  be  just  and 
the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus,"  or  who  is  by  the  faith  of 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  123 

Jesus.  Sanctification,  in  tlie  same  manner,  by  becoming  our  example 
and  leading  us  to  God  in  the  truth  by  whicli  we  are  sanctified.  "  And 
for  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself,  that  they  also  may  be  sanctified 
through  the  truth."  "  By  a  new  and  living  way,  which  he  hath  con- 
secrated for  us  through  the  vail,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh."  (Jno.  i.  18  ; 
Rom.  iii.  25,  26  ;  Jno.  xvii.  19  ;  Heb.  x.  20.)  And  finally,  Redemp- 
tion, by  leading  us  to  God,  from  under  the  government  of  Satan ; 
turning  us  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan 
to  God,  that  we  may  receive  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  inherit- 
ance among  them  that  are  sanctified  by  faith,  that  is  in  him.  (Acts 
xxvi.  18.) 

Thus  the  whole  work  of  salvation,  from  the  beginning,  or  first 
degrees  of  justification,  and  finally,  full  redemption,  is  carried  on  by 
the  gifts  of  God  in  Christ  to  men  ;  all  which  gifts  are  contained  in 
the  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  which  he  has  committed  to  his  peo- 
ple ;  "  When  he  ascended  up  on  high,  he  led  captivity  captive,  and 
gave  gifts  to  men.  And  he  gave  some,  [that  is  some  of  those 
whom  he  gave  were]  apostles ;  and  some,  prophets  ;  and  some, 
evangelists;  and  some,  pastors  and  teachers;  for  the  perfecting  of 
the  saints;  for  the  work  of  the  ministry;  for  the  edifying  of  the 
body  of  Christ ;  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  to  a  perfect  man  in  Christ,  to  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ."  (Eph.  iv.  8,  11, 
12,  13.) 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  justification  exists  in  the  mind  of 
God,  or  in  the  records  of  heaven,  as  some  would  have  it,  and  sancti- 
fication  in  the  creature.  Both  are  in  the  creature;  both  in  the  heart 
and  conscience.  "  Beloved,  if  our  heart  condemn  us  not,  then  have 
we  confidence  towards  God.''^  "  Having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an 
evil  conscience."  (1  Jno.  iii.  20  ;  Heb.  x.  22.)  And  the  sanctifying, 
or  purifying  of  the  conscience,  and  fitting  it  for  the  service  of  God, 
is  also  effected  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  as  much  as  justification  ; 
[should  we  make  a  distinction  ;]  "  For  if  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of 
goats,  and  the  ashes  of  an  heifer,  sprinkling  the  unclean,  sanctifieth 
to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh  ;  how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ, 
who  through  the  eternal  Spirit  off"ered  himself  without  spot  to  God, 
purge  your  conscience  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God." 
(Heb.  ix.  13,  14.)  This  effect  of  the  blood  of  Christ  is  justification 
as  well  as  sanctification,  which  are  both  one  work  of  God  in  Christ,  to 
set  us  free  from  the  power  and  nature  of  sin  ;  and  is  called  justifica- 
tion, as  it  delivers  from  the  guilt  and  condemnation  of  sin  ;  and  sanc- 
tification, as  it  delivers  from  the  pollution  ;  and  redemption,  as  it 
delivers  from  the  powe'r  and  dominion  of  sin.  But  these  are  all  one 
work  ;  although,  to  be  a  little  more  particular,  justification  may  be 
considered  as  going  before  ;  not  as  being  perfected  before  sanctifica- 
tion begins,  but  as  being  the  ground-work  and  beginning  of  it,  and  so 
continuing  in  its  progress  until  the  work  is  completed.  For  it  is  also 
a  mistake  to  suppose  that  justification  is  instantaneous',  as  by  the  sen- 
tence of  a  judge  ;  but  it  is  progressive,  as  men  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  their  sins,  and  put  them  away  by  confessing,  repenting  and 
forsaking.  "  Thou  believest  that  there  is  one  God  ;  thou  doest  well." 
Thus  far  then  the  man  had  justification,  or  the  ground-work  of  it ; 


124  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

but  it  was  not  perfect  or  saving  for  the  want  of  good  works.  "  But 
wilt  thou  know,  O  vain  man!  that  faith  without  works  is  dead." 
Faith  not  cultivated  and  improved  by  works  will  lose  all  its  power  to 
justify  and  produce  the  most  piercing  and  distressing  condemnation. 
When  the  publican  and  pharisee  went  into  the  temple  to  pray,  and 
the  pharisee  blessed  himself  in  his  outward,  or  legal  goodness,  and  the 
publican  smote  on  his  breast  and  said,  "  God  he  merciful  to  vie  a  sinner^ 
I  tell  you,"  said  Jesus,  "  this  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified 
rather  than  the  other."  (Luke  xviii.  14.)  But  neither  of  them  was 
justified  to  perfection.  The  one  however  was  in  a  more  favourable 
situation  than  the  other. 

But  finally  here  ;  we  may  fairly  conclude,  that  all  arguments 
which  prove  sanctification,  perseverance,  or  continued  acceptance 
with  God,  by  the  obedience  of  faith,  prove  also  justification  by  the 
same.  "  For  by  one  ofi'ering  he  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are 
sanctified."  And  this  is  the  same  offering  by  which  men  receive  jus- 
tification or  the  forgiveness  of  sins  ;  "  Whereof  the  Holy  Ghost  also 
is  a  witness  to  us  :  for  after  that  he  had  said  before,  This  is  the 
covenant  that  I  will  make  with  them.  After  those  days,  saith  the 
Lord,  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  hearts,  and  in  their  minds  will 
I  write  them  ;  and  their  sins  and  iniquities  will  I  remember  no 
more.  Now,  where  remission  of  these  is,  there  is  no  more  offer- 
ing for  sins."  (Heb.  x.  14-18.)  And  this  view  of  the  subject 
agrees  correctly  with  the  work  of  God  in  giving  his  Christ  whom 
man  despiseth  as  a  covenant,  or  purifier,  to  the  people.  "  I  will  pre- 
serve thee,  and  give  thee  for  a  covenant  [n''"'^,  a  purifier,  from 
13,  to  purify]  to  the  people."  "But  who  may  abide  the  day  of 
his  coming  .'  and  who  shall  stand  when  he  appeareth  .''  for  he  is 
like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  like  the  fuller's  soap."  [n''"i3,  purifier  or 
covenant ] 

4th.  It  will  likely  be  objected  by  some,  that  the  people  of  God  in 
old  time  did  not  plead  justification,  or  acceptance  with  God  for  their 
good  works,  but  for  the  Lord's  mercy's  sake.  But  observe  ;  never 
for  the  righteousness  of  another  imputed  to  them.  And  to  support 
this  objection  many  Scriptures  may  be  adduced,  some  of  which  shall 
be  noticed. 

But  let  it  be  considered  for  what  reason  they  never,  or  so  seldom, 
pleaded  their  own  good  deeds,  or  faithfulness,  even  because  they  had 
nothing  to  plead  on  that  ground,  being  continually  disobedient.  But 
wherever  they  had  been  up  to  their  duty,  they  were  not  afraid  to 
own  it,  and  feel  justified  in  what  they  had  done.  Thus  the  prophet 
Isaiah,  (Ixiv.  5,  6,)  "Thou  meetest  him  that  rejoiceth  and  worketh 
righteousness  ;  those  that  remember  thee  in  thy  ways  :"  [these  stand 
accepted  :  but  in  the  next  place  ;]  "behold,  thou  art  wroth  ;  for  we 
have  sinned."  No  wonder  then  that  he  saith  :  "  But  we  are  all  as  an 
unclean  thing,  and  all  our  righteousnesses  are  as  filthy  rags  ;  and  we 
all  do  fade  as  a  leaf,  and  our  iniquities  like  the  wind  have  taken  us 
away."  This  expression,  and  all  our  righteousnesses  are  as  filthy  rags, 
is  greatly  insisted  on  to  prove  that  a  man  can  have  no  acceptable 
righteousness,  nor  perform  any  acceptable  obedience  in  his  own 
person  ;  as  if  the  wickedness  of  the  rebellious  Jews  were  of  the  same 
nature  as  the  obedience  of  a  faithful  Christian.     Daniel  also  (ix.  18, 


OBJECTIONS    ANSwIlRED.  125 

19,)  saith,  "For  we  do  not  present  our  supplications  before  thee  for 
our  righteousness,  but  for  thy  great  mercies.  0  Lord,  hear  ;  O  Lord, 
forgive  ;  O  Lord,  hearken  and  do  ;  defer  not  for  thine  own  sake,  O 
my  God  :  for  thy  city  and  thy  people  are  called  by  thy  name."  But 
he  gives  a  good  reason  for  not  pleading  their  own  righteousness — 
because  they  had  not  done  righteousli/^  but  wickedly  ;  (ver.  11,)  "  Yea, 
all  Israel  have  transgressed  thy  law,  even  by  departing,  that  they 
might  not  obey  thy  voice  ;  therefore  the  curse  is  poured  upon  us,  and 
the  oath  which  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  God, 
because  we  have  sinned  against  him."  But  see  on  this  occasion,  the 
words  of  Nehemiah,  (xiii.  14,)  "  Remember  me,  O  my  God,  concern- 
ing this,  and  wipe  not  out  my  good  deeds  that  I  have  done  for  the 
house  of  my  God,  and  for  the  offices  thereof;"  and  of  Hezekiah, 
(Isa.  xxxviii.  2,  3,)  "Then  Hezekiah  turned  his  face  to  the  wall,  and 
prayed  unto  the  Lord,  and  said.  Remember  now,  0  Lord,  I  beseech 
thee,  how  I  have  walked  before  thee  in  truth,  and  with  a  perfect 
heart,  and  have  done  that  which  is  good  in  thy  sight ;"  and  the  Lord 
heard  his  prayer.  See  also  the  words  of  David;  (Psa.  vii.  8.) 
"Judge  me,  O  Lord,  according  to  my  righteousness,  and  according 
to  mine  integrity  that  is  in  me."  And  the  writers  of  that  day 
throughout,  exclude  every  prospect  of  acceptance  with  God  on  any 
other  principle  than  obedience.  "Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of 
the  Lord  ?  and  who  shall  stand  in  his  holy  place  ?  He  that  hath 
clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart ;  who  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto 
vanity,  nor  sworn  deceitfully.  He  shall  receive  the  blessing  from 
the  Lord,  and  righteousness  from  the  God  of  his  salvation."  (Psa. 
xxiv.  3,  4,  5.)  But  in  the  case  of  iniquity  actually  committed,  the 
only  method  was  to  make  sacrifice  to  God  according  to  the  law,  in 
repentance,  with  confession  and  forsaking.  "Blessed  is  he  whose 
transgression  is  forgiven,  whose  sin  is  covered.  Blessed  is  the  man 
unto  whom  the  Lord  imputeth  not  iniquity,  and  in  whose  spirit  there 
is  no  guile.  When  I  kept  silence  my  bones  waxed  old  :  through  my 
roaring  all  the  day  long  [for  day  and  night  thy  hand  was  heavy  upon 
me]  my  moisture  is  turned  into  the  drought  of  summer.  I  acknow- 
ledged my  sin  unto  thee,  and  mine  iniquity  have  I  not  hid.  I  said  I 
will  confess  my  transgressions  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  thou  forgavest  the 
iniquity  of  my  sin."  (Psa.  xxxii.  1-5.)  Agreeably  to  these  things 
are  the  words  of  the  apostle  James,  (iv.  8,  9,  10,)  "Draw  nigh  to 
God,  and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you.  Cleanse  your  hands,  ye  sinners ; 
and  purify  your  hearts,  ye  double-minded.  Be  afflicted,  and  mourn, 
and  weep  :  let  your  laughter  be  turned  to  mourning,  and  your  joy  to 
heaviness.  Humble  yourselves  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall 
lift  you  up."  And  the  testimony  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  is  clear 
enough,  that  without  obedience  there  is  no  acceptance  with  God,  or 
justification  in  the  conscience,  and  this  testimony  is  sufficient  for  our 
purpose. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  not  intended  to  argue  that  those  who  do  righteous- 
ness in  the  obedience  of  faith,  even  the  faith  of  Christ,  have  any  right 
or  any  feeling  to  ask  any  thing  of  God  as  the  reward  thereof,  as 
though  they  had  done  any  thing  more  than  their  duty,  or  could  be 
profitable  to  God,  as  a  man  may  be  profitable  to  a  man ;  but  death 
and  the  curse  are  the  proper  wages  and  natural  fruit  of  sin,  and  as 


126  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

sin  and  disobedience  stand  in  tlie  way  of  the  free  love  and  blessing  of 
God  to  men,  that  being  removed  and  kept  out  of  the  way,  the  riches 
of  God's  free  grace,  and  the  communion  and  blessing  of  his  nature 
have  free  access  ;  and  as  there  can  be  no  guilt  where  there  is  no  sin, 
justification  in  the  conscience  and  before  God  is  the  natural  fruit  of 
innocence  and  obedience  :  and  in  these  is  true  righteousness  ;  "  The 
work,  therefore,  of  righteousness  is  peace,  and  the  eflfect  of  righteous- 
ness, quietness  and  assurance  forever." 

5th.  On  this  plan  of  justification  by  the  obedience  of  faith  in  each 
one,  some  may  conclude,  that  no  grace  is  displayed  in  God,  for  each 
one  receives  just  according  to  his  works,  and  stands  or  falls  according 
to  his  own  proper  character.  Whether  grace  is  displayed  or  not, 
God  and  his  people  will  judge.  But  the  fact  is  established  by  reve- 
lation, that  God  will  finally  judge  every  man  according  to  his  works, 
and  that  every  one  shall  receive  according  to  the  things  done  in  the 
6oc?y,  whether  good  or  evil;  as  before  proved,  "According  to  the 
revelation  of  the  mystery,  which  was  kept  secret  since  the  world 
began,  but  now  is  made  manifest,  and  by  the  Scriptures  of  the  pro- 
phets, according  to  the  commandment  of  the  everlasting  God,  made 
known  to  all  nations  for  the  obedience  of  faith."  (Rom.  xvi.  25,  26.) 

And  when  people  are  truly  afi"ected  by  the  salvation  of  God,  and 
properly  leavened  into  it,  growing  up  into  Christ  in  all  things,  they 
will  not  be  disposed  to  deny  or  be  insensible  of  the  grace  of  God  dis- 
played through  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  whole  plan,  from  beginning  to 
end.  Was  there  no  grace  displayed  in  God's  sending  his  Son  into 
the  world,  with  the  generous  proposal,  that  whosoever  will  believe 
on  him,  and  receive  him  as  their  Lord,  may  not  perish,  but  have  eter- 
nal life  .?  For  to  as  many  as  receive  him,  to  them  gives  he  power  to 
become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  in  his  name.  Or 
would  it  have  displayed  more  grace,  and  have  been  more  to  the  hon- 
our of  God,  to  have  sent  his  Son  with  these  fair  proposals,  while  at 
the  same  time  no  one  could  possibly  reach  the  terms  of  the  off'ered 
salvation,  but  must  inevitably  perish  in  the  additional  crime  of  re- 
jecting the  Gospel,  trampling  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  count- 
ing the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy 
thing,  together  with  his  other  sins,  because  he  hath  not  done  that  which 
he  could  not  do,  unless  God  should  do  in  him  a  work,  in  addition  to 
the  Gospel  provision,  which  he  had  never  promised  to  any  one  indi- 
vidually, and  in  his  own  unalterable  ptirpose  and  decree,  had  limited  to 
a  part,  while  all  are  equally  invited  and  accounted  equally  guilty  for 
not  complying .''  ,  Would  such  a  plan  have  displayed  more  grace  in 
God  .''  When  !  0  when  will  men  let  God  be  equitable,  just  and  true  } 
Is  there  no  grace  displayed  in  bringing  about,  and  pursuing  man- 
kind with  a  Gospel  exactly  fitted  to  their  condition  and  necessity,  into 
which  they  can  come,  according  to  their  own  faith,  and  have  eternal 
life,  by  presenting  themselves  a  living  sacrifice  to  God,  on  such  terms 
as  are  in  their  reach  without  farther  aid  than  what  is  provided  in  the 
Gospel .''  Or  would  it  have  displayed  more  grace  to  have  made  the 
Gospel  offers  a  mere  parade,  its  proposals  being  such  as  no  man  can 
reach,  in  the  condition  in  which  the  Gospel  first  finds  him  }  How 
deeply  must  the  notion  of  such  a  Gospel  wound  the  character  of  its 
author,  and  aggravate  the  misery  of  man }     Is  there  no  display  of 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  127 

grace  in  the  Gospel  which  furnishes  erery  man  with  the  full  and  un- 
questionable authority  of  God  to  him,  as  an  individual,  to  believe  and 
obey  with  the  full  confidence  of  eternal  life,  on  no  harder  conditions 
than  those  which  are  within  his  reach,  and  nothing  more  required  to  be 
believed  than  those,  the  evidences  of  which  are  easy,  and  adapted  to 
his  physical  powers  ?  Or  would  there  be  more  grace  displayed  in  a 
Gospel  which  would  leave  every  man  uncertain  of  his  right  or  capa- 
bility of  believing,  until  a  partaker  of  that  salvation,  or  that  vSpirit 
which  the  Gospel  proposes  as  the  fruit  of  his  faith,  after  he  believes 
and  not  before  ?  In  v:hom^  after  that  ye  believed  ye  were  sealed  with 
that  Holy  iSpirit  of  promise.  Is  there  no  grace  displayed  in  the  char- 
acter of  Christ,  the  author  of  this  benevolent  Gospel,  in  whom  are  hid 
all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  and  out  of  whose  full- 
ness we  may  all  freely  receive  grace,  according  to  each  grace  trea- 
sured up  in  him  ?  Is  there  no  grace  in  the  continued  supplies  of 
help,  protection,  strength  and  comfort  which  his  obedient  people  re- 
ceive from  day  to  day  ?  and  in  that  earnest  pursuit  which  the  Gospel 
makes  to  gain  mankind  and  bring  them  into  the  number  of  the  bless- 
ed? Or  must  it  destroy  all  grace  in  the  plan,  because  the  blessings 
are  within  reach  of  the  needy  ?  What  grace  or  goodness  would  appear  in 
proposals  of  mercy,  quite  out  of  the  reach  of  those  who  need  it  ? 

But  the  objection  will  be  carried  farther  ;  That  the  greatest  glory  is 
ascribed  to  God,  by  leaving  all  the  work  to  him,  and  waiting  on  him 
to  do  it.  Some  people  affect  to  be  so  deeply  devoted  to  the  glory  of 
God,  that  they  seem  as  if  they  could  not  endure  to  have  any  one 
yield  any  practical  honour  to  him,  and  feel  conscious  of  having  done 
his  duty  in  obeying  and  serving  God,  lest  God  should  be  dishonoured 
by  the  man's  service  and  justified  conscience  ?  as  if  God  disdained 
to  have  men  serve  him  and  feel  conscious  of  having  done  their  duty 
after  having  taken  so  much  pains  to  bring  them  to  it.  God  hath  done, 
and  still  does,  all  that  is  necessary  for  him  to  do.  He  has  intro- 
duced and  established  the  everlasting  Gospel  on  a  permanent  founda- 
tion, against  which  the  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail,  and  has  his  minis- 
ters always  ready  to  minister  to  those  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation, 
even  all  those  who  will  obey  that  Gospel  which  includes  all  in  the 
book  of  life,  without  farther  restrictions,  who  do  not  voluntarily  ex- 
clude themselves.  How  then  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation  }  With  what  color  of  truth  can  we  withhold  our  consent 
under  the  pretext  of  that  plan  robbing  God  of  his  glory,  which  He 
has  devised  ^  Or  does  God  require  us  to  contrive  a  plan  to  glorify 
him,  superior  to  his  own .''  The  way  to  glorify  God  is  to  worship  him, 
and  to  order  our  life  according  to  his  directions  without  any  scruples 
as  to  the  propriety  of  the  plan.  "  Whoso  offereth  praise  glorifieth 
me  :  and  to  him  that  ordereth  his  conversation  aright  will  I  show  the 
salvation  of  God."  (Psa.  1.  23.) 

Should  a  noble  prince,  out  of  pure  mercy  and  compassion  to  a  per- 
ishing beggar,  on  the  simple  terms  of  putting  away  his  rags  and  nasti- 
ness,  coming  into  his  premises,  and  doing  what  would  be  convenient 
for  his  comfort  and  health,  of  such  things  as  the  prince  desired  to 
have  done,  taking  care  not  to  dishonour  the  prince  or  injure  any  of  his 
subjects  or  himself  and  the  like.  vShould  this  beggar  object,  that 
it  would  be  dishonouring  to  the  prince  to  suppose  he  could  accept 


128  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

of  these  offers,  unless  the  prince  should  first  make  him  willing  and 
able  by  some  other  method  besides  these  offers,  and  so  withhold 
his  consent,  would  not  every  one  pronounce  him  worthy  to  die  ? 
But  should  he  be  gained  by  the  proposals  without  any  other  opera- 
tions, enter  into  that  comfortable  manner  of  life,  and  receive  from 
time  to  time  increased  benefits,  as  he  became  able  to  use  them  to 
profit,  to  whom  would  the  honour  be  due  ?  Would  not  he  and  all 
others  ascribe  it  to  the  prince  ?  while,  in  the  mean  time,  the  beg- 
gar would  feel  the  conscientious  satisfaction  and  justification,  that 
he  had  accepted  the  generous  offer  and  done  his  duty  ;  the  prince 
also  would  acknowledge  the  same,  approve  the  kindness  which  he 
had  shown,  and  perfect  union  would  subsist  between  them.  So  is  the 
Gospel.  God  giveth,  to  all  whp  will  come,  eternal  life  in  Christ,  on 
the  just  and  equitable  terms  of  faith  and  obedience,  in  such  proposals 
as  presuppose  their  capability  of  doing  what  is  required,  and  a  con- 
tinual supply  of  aid  to  such,  as  fast  as  needed.  To  whom  then  is  the 
glory  due  .'  to  God  or  man  ?  or  wherein  would  it  rob  God  of  any 
glory,  that  the  man  should  have  the  mental  satisfaction,  the  conscien- 
tious justification,  that  he  had  yielded  to  the  offers  so  generously  made  .•* 
Will  it  dishonour  God  for  men  to  comply  with  his  offers  and  receive 
the  very  benefits  which  he  intends  they  should  receive  f 

Who  then  glorifies  God  most  ?  the  man  who  believes  the  truth  of 
God  and  submits  to  what  he  is  taught,  or  he  who  declines,  saying  he 
cannot  take  God  at  his  word  .''  Does  not  the  man  who  rejects  such 
offers  under  such  pretence  as  incapability,  impute  fraud  to  God  ? 
Yea,  surely.  We  are  called  upon  to  be  actively  employed  ;  to  awake 
out  of  sleep  and  arise  from  the  dead,  with  the  promise  annexed,  that 
Christ  shall  give  us  light ;  to  save  ourselves  from  this  untoward  gene- 
ration ;  to  glorify  God  with  our  bodies  and  spirits  which  are  God's. 
And  are  we  to  suppose  that  God  makes  such  proposals  and  demands, 
in  the  full  knowledge  that  a  compliance  is  out  of  our  reach,  in  the 
condition  in  which  the  Gospel  finds  us  ?  If  so,  he  is  a  mocker  of  our 
woes.  For  it  is  to  be  remembered,  as  before  shown,  that  the  Gospel 
is  sent  to  us  as  a  remedy  for  our  present  misery,  adapted  to  all  our 
wants  and  equal  to  our  full  deliverance,  in  the  full  consideration  and 
knowledge  of  all  our  inability  and  all  our  guilt  from  the  fall  until  now. 
No  reasoning,  therefore,  can  be  supported  against  the  plan  of  justifi- 
cation by  the  obedience  of  faith,  and  the  doctrines  connected  there- 
with, as  though  it  robbed  God  of  any  glory,  or  came  short  in  the  dis- 
play of  grace  in  God,  seeing  his  grace  is  displayed  in  the  whole  plan 
from  beginning  to  end,  and  the  greatest  glory  is  attributed  to  him  by 
obedience  ;  which  cannot  be  denied  : 

And  when  on  earth  we've  travelled  through, 
And  done  the  best  that  we  can  do, 
The  glory  all  to  God  is  due, 
We  have  but  done  our  duty. 

6th.  Some  may  object ;  That,  in  all  the  discussions  on  this  subject, 
we  are  led  to  view  Jesus  Christ  as  contending  against  the  nature  of 
sin  in  himself,  like  as  other  men  ;  and  this  seems  to  derogate  from  the 
honour  of  the  Son  of  God,  icho  is  holy^  harmless^  undefiled,  and  separate 
from  sinners.     Whereas  Jesus  was  not  born  into  the  world  by  the 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  129 

works  of  ordinary  generation,  as  other  men  are,  but  spoken  into  being 
by  tbe  Word  of  God,  the  co-operating  power  of  the  Father  and 
Spirit,  as  it  was  said  to  Mary :  "  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon 
thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee,  therefore, 
that  Holy  One  when  born  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God  ;"  it  would 
be  expected  that  he  came  into  the  woiid  entirely  disengaged  and  free 
from  the  nature  and  fountain  of  sin.  But  the  people  need  not  be 
alarmed  for  the  character  of  the  Redeemer,  lest  while  they  are 
solicitous  to  vindicate  and  magnify,  they  diminish  it :  the  knowledge 
and  thorough  investigation  of  truth,  with  answerable  practice,  wUl 
never  disgrace  the  victorious  Son  of  God.     And, 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  clear,  that  notwithstanding  he  came  into 
the  world  by  an  extraordinary  work  of  God,  he  was  "  born  of  a  woman, 
born  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law,  that 
we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons."  Thus  it  behoved  him  to  be 
born,  [ysvof;.£vov.  Gal.  iv.  4,]  as  the  beginning  and  parent  of  the  new 
and  spiritual  creation  and  family  of  God,  and  in  the  position  or  place 
of  those  whom  he  came  to  redeem  ;  as  it  is  written :  "  For  both  he 
that  sanctifieth,  and  they  who  are  sanctified,  are  all  of  one  ;  for  which 
cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren."  By  being  born, 
therefore,  of  a  woman,  who  was  one  of  the  same  fallen  family  whom 
he  came  to  redeem,  and  according  to  the  physical  order  of  gestation 
and  birth,  the  Word  became  flesh  ;  he  was  clothed  in  human  flesh 
and  blood,  just  such  as  the  younger  members  of  the  family  partook, 
who  were  to  be  gathered  to  him  as  their  Redeemer,  and  in  that  pro- 
cess he  assumed  the  same  nature,  stepped  into  their  place  and  took 
their  burdens  on  himself ;  Surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs  and  carried 
our  sorrows  ;  and  engaged  by  all  means  to  lead  them  to  God,  being 
himself  a  fellow-suff'erer  with  them .?  Made  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels  for  the  suffering  of  death.  All  these  things  are  clearly  set  forth 
in  the  Scriptures,  some  of  which  are  these  :  "  Forasmuch  then  as  the 
children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  likewise 
took  part  [rapctTrXTitficdj  (xstsVj^s,  unitedly  partook]  of  the  same  ;  that 
through  death,"  or  by  dying  to  sin,  for  in  that  he  died,  he  died  to  sin 
once,  that  "he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that 
is,  the  devil ;  and  deliver  them  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all 
their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.  For,  verily  he  took  not  on  him 
the  nature  of  angels  ;  but  he  took  on  him  the  seed  of  Abraham. 
Wherefore,  in  all  things  it  behoved  him  to  be  made  like  unto  his 
brethren ;  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest,  in 
things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the 
people  ;  for  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered,  being  tempted,  he  is  able 
to  succour  them  that  are  tempted."  To  wit,  because  he  had  ex- 
perienced the  same  trials,  and  had  learned  to  combat  the  enemy  ;  for 
"though  he  was  a  Son,  yet  learned  he  obedience  by  the  things  which 
he  suffered."  Thus  he  was  a  subject  of  the  same  sufferings,  tempta- 
tions-and  feelings  of  infirmities,  with  his  brethren.  "  For  we  have 
not  an  high  priest  who  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feelings  of  our 
infirmities  ;  but  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without 
sin."  For  temptation  is  no  sin;  but  yielding  is  sin;  and  in  all  his 
temptations  he  never  yielded :  he  was,  therefore,  holy,  harmless,  un- 
10 


130  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

defiled^  and  separate  from  sinners^  from  first  to  last :  a  victorions  leader 
and  example  of  his  people. 

Nevertheless,  it  remains  true,  that  he  held  a  sore  conflict  with  the 
nature  of  sin  in  himself,  like  other  men,  as  just  now  proved.  And  all 
this  was  necessary  in  fulfilling  the  commission  with  which  he  was 
sent :  as  the  beginning  of  the  new  and  spiritual  creation  of  God, 
the  first-born  from  the  dead,  the  first  parent  of  the  family  who  are 
saved,  the  first  leader  and.  perfecter  of  faith,  the  One  who  first,  by  a 
sore  combat  and  complete  victory,  obtained  access  to  the  throne  of 
God,  in  his  own  behalf  and  in  the  behalf  of  his  people  ;  when  there 
was  no  mediator,  and  the  way  to  the  mercy-seat  was  untrodden,  hav- 
ing never  been  opened.  The  prophet  Isaiah  describes,  in  most  pa- 
thetic language,  the  interesting  scene — the  engagement,  the  conflict, 
and  the  victory.  "  Who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with  dyed 
garments  from  Bozrah  ?  this  that  is  glorious  in  his  apparel,  travelling- 
in  the  greatness  of  his  strength  ?  I  that  speak  in  righteousness, 
mighty  to  save.  Wherefore  art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel,  and  thy 
garments  like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  wine-fat  ?  I  have  trodden  the 
wine-press  alone  ;  and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  me  ;  for  I 
will  tread  them  [in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  copies,  have  trodden 
themj  in  mine  anger,  and  trample  [have  trampled  them  down 
[DDO"tNl  '=3X3  OD"\nNi]  in  my  fury  ;  and  their  blood  shall  be  [hath 
been]  sprinkled  upon  my  garments,  and  I  will  stain  [have  stained]  all 
my  raiment."  (And  these  things  have  given  me  the  appearance 
which  I  exhibit  to  view.)  "  For  the  day  of  vengeance  is  in  my  heart, 
and  the  year  of  my  redeemed  is  come.  And  I  looked,  and  there  was 
none  to  help  ;  and  I  wondered  that  [I  was  brought  into  sore  conster- 
nation, and  yet]  there  was  none  to  uphold  ;  therefore  mine  own  arm 
brought  salvation  to  me  ;  and  my  fury  it  upheld  me."  (There  being 
no  mediator,  to  whom  to  look  for  help,  I  gained  the  victory  by  the 
exertion  of  my  own  arm,  and  thus  became  foremost  in  the  great 
work  of  salvation,  gained  the  pre-eminence,  and  was  made,  through 
sufferings,  a  perfect  mediator  for  the  benefit  of  all  who  come  after.) 
"  And  I  will  tread  [have  trodden]  down  the  people  in  mine  anger, 
and  make  [have  made]  them  drunk  in  my  fury  ;  and  will  bring 
[have  brought]  down  their  strength,  [or  blood]  to  the  earth."  This 
prophecy  is  not  alone,  in  speaking  of  future  events  as  being  already 
past.  The  following  is  descriptive  of  the  same  work,  and  includes 
both  the  past  and  the  future.  "  And  he  saw  that  there  was  no  man, 
and  wondered  that  [was  brought  into  sore  consternation,  because] 
there  was  no  intercessor  ;  [on  whom  to  lean  ;]  therefore  his  arm 
brought  salvation  to  him,  and  his  righteousness  it  sustained  him.  For 
he  put  on  righteousness  as  a  breastplate,  and  an  helmet  of  salvation 
upon  his  head  ;  and  he  put  on  the  garments  of  vengeance  for  clothing, 
and  was  clad  with  zeal  as  a  cloak.  According  to  their  deeds,  accord- 
ino-iy  he  will  repay,  fury  to  his  adversaries,  recompense  to  his  ene- 
mies ;  to  the  islands  he  will  repay  recompense.  So  shall  they  fear 
the  name  of  the  Lord  from  the  west,  and  his  glory  from  the  rising  of 
the  sun :  when  the  enemy  shall  come  in  like  a  flood,  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  shall  lift  up  a  standard  against  him.  And  the  Redeemer  shall 
come  to  Zion."      (Isa.  1  xiii.    1-6.  and  lix.   16-20.)       These  pro- 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  131 

phecies,  as  it  is  common,  are  metaphorical,  and  by  tlie  destroying 
and  treading  of  the  nations  down,  set  forth  the  final  and  total  over- 
throw of  the  nature  which  rules  over  the  whole,  the  carnal  mind, 
which  is  enmity  against  God,  and  must  he  utterly  rooted  out  from  all 
who  are  saved.  All  the  nations  have  to  be  broken  to  pieces,  before 
they  will  become  subject  to  the  government  of  Christ ;  but  as  fast  as 
they  are  thus  consumed,  broken  off  from  the  old  creation  and  nature, 
the  Redeemer  can  come  to  Zion,  and  to  them  that  turn  from  ungodliness 
in  Jacob,  and  to  none  else. 

Another  prophecy  will  serve  to  elucidate  this  subject,  and  show 
that  the  destruction  of  the  old  nature  is  represented  by  the  overthrow 
of  the  people.  "  For,  behold,  the  day  cometh  that  shall  burn  as  an 
oven  ;  and  all  the  proud,  yea,  and  all  that  do  wickedly,  shall  be  as 
stubble ;  and  the  day  that  cometh  shall  burn  them  up,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  that  it  shall  leave  them  neither  root  nor  branch.  But 
to  you  that  fear  my  name  shall  the  sun  of  righteousness  arise  with 
healing  in  his  wings;  *  *  *  And  ye  shall  tread  down  the  wicked  ; 
for  they  shall  be  ashes  under  the  soles  of  your  feet  in  the  day  that  I 
do  this,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  It  is  not  the  spirit  of  Christianity 
to  use  the  sword  or  any  carnal  weapon,  or  to  oppress  or  injure  the 
persons  of  men,  this  prophecy,  therefore,  as  well  as  the  former,  re- 
lates to  the  subduing  of  the  people  by  the  Gospel,  when  the  sun  of 
righteousness  should  arise,  and  the  Redeemer  come  to  Zion,  and  to 
those  who  fear  God.  And  however  weak  and  soothing  some  may 
suppose  this  prospect  will  appear  to  men  in  nature,  it  is  found  in 
experience,  that  the  prospect  of  being  brought  under  the  yoke  of 
Christ  is  of  a  more  deathly  nature  to  the  people  of  the  world,  than 
the  expectation  of  any  of  God's  judgments  :  it  takes  their  life. 

But  to  return  to  the  point  in  hand.  The  Scriptures  which  we  have 
been  contemplating,  show  clearly  that  Jesus  was  a  subject  of  warfare 
against  the  nature  of  sin  in  himself,  and  did  actually  overcome,  and 
obtain  salvation  to  himself  first,  as  an  individual  man,  (but  the  parent 
and  example  of  his  subjects,)  and  that  he  gained  this  conquest  by 
overcoming  the  whole  world,  which  bent  its  whole  force  right 
against  him,  so  that  he  had  to  wade  through  the  whole  to  reach  the 
throne  of  God :  hence  the  warlike  and  victorious  appearances  de- 
scribed by  the  prophet.  He  hath  overcome  the  world — in  himself 
therefore  ;  for  it  was  not  yet  overcome  in  others.     Nevertheless, 

That  he  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners 
from  the  beginning,  and  so  remains,  is  not  contested  ;  but  that  is  no 
proof  that  he  had  not  to  contend  against  the  nature  of  sin  in  himself : 
such  a  conflict  adds  greatly  to  the  lustre  of  his  glory  and  his  power 
in  overcoming  sin.  For  how  did  he  support  this  character  which  he 
so  honourably  sustains  ?  Not  by  having  no  trials  or  temptations,  but 
by  not  yielding  to  them.  He  was  holy,  harmless  and  undefiled.  By 
being  wholly  devoted  to  God  ;  never  doing  any  thing  evil,  injurious, 
or  contrary  to  innocence,  in  the  least  instance  ;  never  uniting,  con- 
senting, or  meddling  with  sin  to  defile  himself  in  the  smallest  parti- 
cle ;  and  accordingly,  was  separate  from  sinners,  because  he  never 
partook  with  them,  in  their  trays,  who  do  their  own  icill ;  but  on  the 
contrary  directed  his  course  towards  God,  according  to  his  calling 
and  eommission. 


132  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

To  suppose  that  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  was  separate  from  sin 
and  sinners,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  have  no  real  contact  with  sin, 
real  conflict  against  it,  as  assaulting  him  in  his  own  person,  nor  real 
temptation  to  sin,  is  not  onLy  contrary  to  Scripture,  as  already  shown, 
but  also  tends  to  rob  him  of  much  of  the  honour  of  his  victory,  and  oif 
the  glory  due  to  his  name,  as  well  as  to  derogate  from  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  great  work  of  man's  redemption.  What  honour  is  there  in  a  com- 
bat and  victory  where  there  is  no  antagonist  ?  Or  if  an  antagonist  be 
admitted,  yet  such  a  one,  and  in  such  a  situation,  as  to  have  no  room 
in  his  superior  combatant,  to  ply  his  art  or  power  against  him,  no  place 
in  him,  no  grip  on  him  of  which  to  avail  himself?  I  say,  what  honour  is 
attached  to  such  a  victory,  compared  with  that  over  a  powerful  and  sub- 
tle enemy  who  has  full  access  and  liberty  to  ply  his  heaviest  artillery? 
The  honour  and  glory  of  Christ's  victory  are  predicated  on  the  principle 
of  his  taking  the  enemy  on  his  own  ground,  and  there  beating  him,  after 
he  had  become  weak  through  the  liesh  which  he  assumed  when  he 
came  on  the  battle-ground,  that  is,  into  the  world,  and  thus  exposed 
himself  to  the  enemy,  subject  even  to  death."  '' For  though  he  was 
crucified  through  weakness,  yet  he  liveth  by  the  power  of  God."  (2  Cor. 
xiii.  4.)  "  But  we  see  Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels  for  the  suffering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honour  ;  that 
he  by  the  grace  of  God  should  taste  death  for  every  man.  For  it  be- 
came him  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bring- 
ing many  sons  to  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect 
through  sufferings."  (Heb.  ii.  9,  10.)  "Who  being  in  the  form  of 
God  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,  [or  as  God,]  but 
made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  on  him  the  form  of  a  servant, 
and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men  ;  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a 
man  he  humbled  himself,  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the 
death  of  the  cross  ;  wherefore  God  also  hath  highly  exalted  him,  and 
given  him  a  name  which  is  above  every  name  ;  that  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  those  in  heaven,  and  those  on  earth 
and  those  under  the  earth;  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  (Phil.  ii. 
6.-11.) 

A  man  may  injustice  be  counted  honourable  who  abstains  from  drunk- 
enness and  every  other  vice,  when  he  has  no  opportunity  to  be  drunken, 
and  no  appetite  for  the  intoxicating  liquor ;  but  his  honour  is  greatly 
augmented,  and  the  renown  of  his  name  magnified,  who,  being  possessed 
with  an  insatiable  thirst  for  spirits,  in  the  midst  of  flowing  liquors  pre- 
sented to  him  on  every  hand,  faithfully  bears  his  cross,  overcomes  his 
appetite,  andout  of  a  pure  principle  ofgoodness  and  propriety,  leads  a  life 
of  sobriety,  to  the  conviction  and  conversion  of  many  to  the  same  hon- 
ourable life.  Not  as  though  it  were  any  direct  honour  to  be  possessed  of 
a  thirst  for  intoxicating  spirits ;  but  the  honour  is  in  passing  through 
unfoiled  when  beset  with  an  enemy  or  pestilence.  God  is  essentially  and 
intrinsically  glorious  in  himself;  but  the  brightest  and  most  eminent 
display  of  his  glory  is  in  Christ,  who  as  already  seen  became  man,  was 
made  in  all  things  like  his  brethren,  entered  the  list  with  the  enemy, 
was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  overcame  by  the  cross,  led  cap- 
tivity captive,  and  gave  gifts  to  men,  and  thus  in  all  things  became  our 
example,  that  we  should  follow  his  steps,  that  he  might  lead  us  to  God  by 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  133 

his  own  example,  in  the  new  and  living  way  which  he  has  consecrated 
for  us  through  the  vail,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh.  In  him  the  power  of 
God  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  enemy,  that  the  real  contrast  be- 
tween holiness  and  sin,  between  the  obedience  of  faith  and  rebellion, 
might  be  manifested  to  the  utmost,  and  the  power  of  God,  on  the  side 
of  holiness  and  obedience,  prevails.  In  like  manner,  as  the  glory  of  God 
is  displayed  in  Christ  Jesus  by  the  salvation  which  he  wrought  and  the 
victory  which  he  gained  over  sin  and  death,  and  by  the  power  of  God 
sn  the  great  work  of  redemption,  the  same  display  of  his  glory  is  made 
in  the  whole  body,  the  Church,  of  whom  he  is  the  head.  "  For  though 
he  was  crucified  through  weakness,  yet  he  liveth  by  the  power  of  God  : 
for  we  also  are  weak  in  him,  but  we  shall  live  with  him,  by  the  pow- 
er of  God."  "  And  he  said  unto  me,  my  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  :  for 
my  stength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness."     (2  Cor.  xiii.  4,  and  xii.  9.) 

7th.  It  seems  an  insurmountable  difficulty  with  some,  against  the 
foregoing  doctrines,  particularly  that  of  the  unrestrained  privilege  of  all 
to  believe  and  obey,  that  faith  is  the  gift  of  God^  it  is  therefore  certain  that 
none  can  believe  or  obey  to  acceptance  until  they  receive  that  gift  of 
faith  from  God.  It  might  be  surprising  to  find  it  asserted,  that  that  gift 
is  already  made  to  all  who  hear  the  Gospel.  But  so  it  is ;  for  the  Gos- 
pel is  not  a  mere  rational  scheme  of  morals,  but  the  power  of  God.  It  is 
always  ministered  in  the  Spirit  :  for  the  Spirit  of  God  is  in  those  who 
minister  it  wherever  they  preach  it,  to  convince  the  world  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment.  (Jno.  xvi.  7,  8  ;  2  Cor.  iii.  6.)  That 
preaching  which  doth  not  minister  the  gift  of  faith,  or  the  privilege  of 
believing,  unlimitedly  to  all  who  hear,  is  not  the  true  Gospel.  Faith 
Cometh,  or  is  produced,  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God  ; 
and  this  is  the  word  lohich  by  the  Gospelis  preached  to  you. 

It  is  evident  that  the  term,  faith,  is  used  in  the  Scriptures,  in  a  more 
extensive  sense  than  that  which  is  included  in  its  simple  meaning, 
which  is,  the  believing  or  crediting  of  a  report  on  sufficient  evidence. 
But  it  is  also  evident,  that  the  simple  meaning  of  the  term  is  included 
wherever  it  is  throughout  the  sacred  writings.  Thus,  "  Hast  thou  faith  ? 
have  it  to  thyself  before  God,"  (Rom.  xiv.  22;)  where  the  term 
faith  evidently  means  knowledge,  or  the  understanding  of  a  certain  mat- 
ter ;  which  was,  that  the  eating  of  meat  was  innocent  if  done  without 
offending  others ;  but  the  simple  meaning  of  faith  is  fairly  included. 
*'  But  before  faith  came  we  were  kept  under  the  law,  shut  up  to  the  faith 
which  should  afterwards  be  revealed.  Wherefore  the  law  was  our  school- 
master to  bring  us  [or  pointing  us]  to  Christ.  But  after  that  faith  is 
come  we  are  no  longer  under  a  schoolmaster."  (Gal.  iii.  23-25.  Now  it 
is  evident  that  the  tevm  faith,  in  this  passage,  includes  more  than  its 
simple  meaning  ;  for  Abraham  and  many  others  had  faith  before,  but 
not  the  faith  of  Christ,  or  that  faith  in  him  by  which  men  are  final- 
ly and  perfectly  justified  ;  for  that  faith  had  never  come  before. 
The  term  faith  then  in  this  passage  is  to  be  understood  as  including 
Christ  and  all  his  benefits,  or  the  Gospel  dispensation  as  contrasted 
with  the  Jewish,  including  believing,  obeying  and  every  thing  pertain- 
ing to  the  life  of  a  Christian,  "  whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  is  born  of  God"[or  has  been  begotten,  Greek,]  (Jno.  v.  1.  See 
Macnight  on  this  text.)  Here  also  it  is  evident  that  believing  includes 
more  than  the  simple  meaning  of  the  word,  because  many  believe  that 


134  OBJECTIONS  Answered. 

point  with  an  unshaken  faith  while  ignorant  of  the  spiritual  truth,  as  has 
been  already  shown.  But  in  this  place  believing,  which  is  acting  faith, 
can  include  nothing  less  than  following  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  by  living 
his  life,  without  M^hich,  no  one  is  worthy  of  the  name  of  a  believer. 
But  in  this  the  simple  meaning  of  the  term  believe,  is  included  ;  for  no 
man  would  follow  Jesus  without  believing  in  him  as  the  true  Saviour. 
Many  other  instances  might  be  produced  of  the  use  of  the  term  faith, 
where  it  includes  something  more  than  its  primary  and  simple  meaning  ; 
but  these  are  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose.  That  into  which  we 
are  here  inquiring,  is  faith  in  its  primary  and  simple  meaning,  or  that 
act  or  operation  in  the  Spirit  by  which  a  man  acknowledges  Christ  in 
his  heart,  and  by  which  he  enters  on  the  Christian  life. 

Now,  that  faith  in  this  simple  meaning  is  the  immediate  or  direct 
gift  of  God,  is  not  easily  proved  :  it  being  no  vs'here  unequivocally  as- 
sorted  in  the  Scriptures  that  faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  at  least  in  this 
sense,  or  directly  so.  Some  have  argued  from  these  words,  "  where- 
in also  ye  are  risen  with  him  [Christ]  through  the  faith  of  the  ope- 
ration of  God,  who  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead,"  that  faith  in  the 
creature  is  produced  by  the  same  direct  agency  of  God  b)'  which  he 
raised  Jesus  from  the  dead.  But  the  most  natural  construction  of  that 
Scripture  is,  that  by  the  influence  of  believing  that  operation  of  Gody 
the)'^  were  also  raised  from  the  dead.     (See  Doddridge  on  this  text.) 

But  the  almost  universal  Scripture  on  this  point  being,  as  I  may 

say,  the  only  one  which  comes  near  it,  is  this  :  "  For  by  grace  ye  ars 

saved,  through  faith  ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves  :  it  is  the  gift  of  God.'* 

(Eph.  ii.  8.)     Now,  waiving  the  criticism  which  may  be  made  on  the 

original  text,  as  it  is  certain  the  Greek  language  is  not  alvi^ays  correct 

to  its  common  rules,  let  us  consider  in  what  respect  faith  can  be  the 

gift  of  God  agreeably   to  the  Scriptures.     That  Christ  is  the  primary 

and  chief  object   cf  the    faith   of   Christians   will    be   granted   on    all 

hands  ;  and  that  he  is  the  gift  of  God  to  men  will  not  be  contested  by 

professed   Christians;    "for  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 

only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 

but  have  everlasting  life."  (Jno.   iii.    16.)      Christ  then   is  the  gift  of 

God,  and  he  is  confessedly  the  true  object  of  faith ;  and  according  to 

the   Scriptures  he  is  given  for  the  express  purpose  that  the  world  of 

mankind  might  believe  and  have  eternal  life.     He  is  not  given  for  those 

^     .  .  . 

to  believe  on  him  who  are  distinctly  enabled  one  side  of  the  preaching 

of  the  word;  the  Scriptures  make  mention  of  no  such  matter,  "for  it 
pleased  God,  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching,  to  save  them  that  be- 
lieve" (1  Cor.  i.  21)  ;  but  for  the  express  purpose  that  everyone  who 
will  may  believe  without  mention  or  intimation  of  any  other  qualifica- 
tion, or  authority,  than  what  God  hath  included  in  the  gift  of  Christ, 
If  any  man  be  of  the  world,  if  he  belong  to  the  fallen  race  of  men,  he 
has  a  right  to  believe.  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  to  me  and 
drink."  (Jno.  vii.  37.)  "And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say.  Come. 
And  let  him  that  heareth  say  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  Come. 
And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  (Rev.  sxii, 
17.)  These  offers  are  not  made  to  a  people  incapable  of  complying 
with  them,  to  increase  their  condemnation.  "For  God  sent  not  his 
Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through 
him  might  be  saved."  (Jno.  iii.  17.)     The  matter  is  then  decided  that 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  135 

he  is  given  that  the  ivorld,  not  a  part,  but  whosoever  vi^ill,  may  believe 
and  be  saved.  And  this  gift  of  God  is  actually  made  wherever  the 
Gospel  is  preached.  "  But  faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by 
the  word  of  God."  (Rom.  x.  17.)  This  is  in  no  respect  different  from 
what  is  already  stated,  that  it  is  the  unquestionable  privilege  and  inali- 
enable right  of  every  man  wherever  the  Gospel  comes,  to  believe  and 
be  saved.  For  that  word  by  which  faith  cometh,  or  is  produced,  [for 
in  the  Greek  the  sentence  is  elliptical,]  the  word  being  the  seed  which 
begets  faith,  containing  Christ  in  it,  as  it  is  written  of  those  who  preach 
the  Gospel  or  word  of  God,  "but  we  preach  Christ  crucified."  And 
again,  "for  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord."  (1 
Cor.  i.  23  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  5.)  I  say  then,  that  the  word  by  which  faith 
cometh  is  the  same  word  by  which  Christ  is  preached  in  the  Gospel,  or 
in  other  words,  it  is  Christ  preached  to  the  people  ;  for  to  preach  Christ, 
and  to  preach  the  Gospel,  are  tantamount.  To  these  things  also  agree 
the  words  of  Peter  ;  (1  Pet.  i.  25.)  "  But  the  word  of  the  Lord  endur- 
eth  forever.  And  this  is  the  word  by  which  the  Gospel  is  preached 
unto  you."  These  things  show  the  order  and  line  in  which  the  gift  of 
faith  is  made,  and  also  prove,  that  that  gift  of  God, /ai/A,  is  already 
made  indiscriminately  to  all  who  hear  the  Gospel,  wherever  it  is 
preached.  This  then  is  the  train  of  the  gift  of  God  ;  he  sends  out  men 
to  preach  Christ  for  the  belief  of  all  men  to  their  salvation  ;  they  preach, 
the  people  hear  and  believe  ;  or  those  who  reject  the  testimony  or  dis- 
believe, do  it  at  their  own  option  and  voluntary  choice.  This  train  of 
faith,  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  is  handsomely  delineated  by  the 
Apostle  in  the  above-quoted  chapter  to  the  Romans,  (x.  13-16.) 
"  For  whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved. 
How  then  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  believed  ?  and 
how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  and  how 
shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher .''  and  how  shall  they  preach  except 
they  be  sent  ?  as  it  is  written,  how  beautiful  are  the  feet  of  them  that 
preach  the  Gospel  of  peace,  and  bring  glad  tidings  of  good  things  !  But 
they  have  not  all  obeyed  the  Gospel ;  for  Esaias  saith,  Lord,  who  hath 
believed  our  report .''"  Which,  by  the  way,  shows  that  obedience  is 
the  chief  matter  in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  if  one  should  be- 
lieve in  the  simple  and  primary  sense  of  the  word,  his  faith  would  not 
be  accounted  of  to  his  justification.  After  all,  therefore,  which  can  be 
said,  a'man's  reception  of  the  Gospel  to  his  justification,  ultimately 
rests  upon  his  own  voluntary  choice  in  the  improvement  of  the  gift  of 
faith.  "So  then,  faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of 
God."  This  then  is  the  only  sense  in  which  faith  can  be  said  in  truth 
to  be  the  gift  of  God,  that  Christ,  the  object  of  faith,  in  whom  is  in- 
cluded salvation,  for  he  is  the  salvation  of  God  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
and  the  preaching  of  the  word  which  is  the  means  of  producing  faith, 
are  the  gift  of  God.  And  the  Greek  text  of  that  solitary  Scripture 
which  is  so  often  adduced  to  prove  that  faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  will 
translate  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  same  view  ;  "  For  by  grace 
ye  are  saved  through  faith;  and  that  (method  of  being  saved)  is  not 
of  yourselves:  it  is  the  gift  of  God."  The  word  translated,  that,  be- 
ing neuter  gender,  doth  not  correctly  agree,  according  to  the  rules  of 
that  language,  with  the  word  translated, /a?7A,  which  is  feminine,  but 
properly  agreeth  with  the  member  of  the  sentence  including  salvation. 


136  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

Also  the  words,  "  and  not  of  yourselves,"  comprise  a  complete  mem- 
ber of  a  sentence  which  is  elliptical,  leaving  room  for  the  verb,  is,  as  it 
is  common  with  that  language. 

But  waiving  all  reliance  on  the  above  criticism,  however  just,  the 
Scriptures  teach  clearly  enough,  that  faith,  as  it  exists  in  the  creature, 
is  there  produced  by  the  hearing  of  the  word  preached,  and  that  it 
is  the  gift  of  God  in  no  other  sense  than  that  the  object  and  means  of 
faith  are  given.  Thus  also  repentance  may  be  called  the  gift  of 
God ;  "  Then  hath  God  also  to  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance  un- 
to life."  And  again  :  "  Him  hath  God  exalted  with  his  right  hand  to 
be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  for  to  give  repentance  to  Israel,  and  the  for- 
giveness of  sins."  (Acts  xi.  IS,  and  v.  31.)  But  the  act  of  repent- 
ance as  well  as  faith,  or  believing,  belongs  to  the  man  as  his  duty  ; 
hence  Christ  and  his  ministers  exhorted  the  people  to  repentance  and 
faith,  each  of  which  was  their  particular  duty  according  to  the  author- 
ity which  God  had  given  them  by  the  Gospel.  Accordingly  Jesus  went 
forth  "  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  saying.  The 
time  is  fulfilled  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand  ;  repent  ye,  and  be- 
lieve the  Gospel.''^  And  Paul  "  testifying,  both  to  the  Jews  and  also 
to  the  Greeks,  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  towards  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  (Mark  i.  15.  Acts  xx.  21.)  But  as  the  evidence  of 
the  things  to  be  believed  was  laid  before  the  people  that  they  might 
believe,  so  were  the  motives  to  repentance,  that  they  might  repent. 
Both  therefore  are  the  gift  of  God  in  the  first  place,  given  or  pre- 
sented to  all  who  hear  the  Gospel,  and  both  the  proper  duty  and 
privilege  of  the  same  to  be  practised  in  receiving  the  gift  so  pre- 
sented. 

The  Gospel  therefore,  or  word  preached,  is  the  proper  evidence,  author- 
ity, or  power  of  believing,  given  of  God  to  all  mankind,  wherever  and 
whenever  it  is  preached  in  truth,  without  the  co-operation  of  any  addi- 
tional agency  or  power  of  God.  There  is,  therefore,  neither  justifi- 
cation, excuse,  nor  even  plausible  pretext,  for  those  who  hear  the 
Gospel,  to  not  believe  and  obey,  saying  they  cannot  for  the  want  of  the 
gift  of  God  to  enable  them.  For  this  is  the  sin  of  unbelief,  or  disobe- 
dience, by  which  a  man  makes  God  a  liar,  and  excludes  himself  from 
salvation,  the  not  believing  the  testimony  of  God,  that  he  has  given 
him  eternal  life  in  Christ.  [As  properly  as  a  matter  can  be  given  before 
it  is  actually  received.]  "  He  that  believeth  not  God,  hath  made  him 
a  liar  .''  because  he  believeth  not  the  record  that  God  gave  of  his  Son." 
How  doth  he  make  God  a  liar  ?  by  disbelieving  an  untruth  ?  Not  so  ; 
for  that  could  not  make  God  a  liar,  unless  he  had  first  made  himself  a 
liar,  by  testifying  a  falsehood  ;  but  by  disbelieving  the  true  testimony  of 
God  toward  us,  concerning  his  Son.  "  And  this  is  the  record,  [or  tes- 
timony,] that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life  ;  and  this  life  is  in  his 
Son."  For  a  man  therefore,  to  not  believe  that  God  has  given  him, 
as  an  individual,  one  among  the  rest,  eternal  life  in  Christ,  is  the  sin  of 
unbelief,  or  making  God  a  liar,  [bat  especially  his  not  laying  hold  of  it 
in  compliance  with  the  gift,]  and  thus  he  excludes  himself  from  eternal 
life  ;  because  without  the  faith  that  eternal  life  is  freely  given  to  him 
in  Christ,  he  will  not,  he  cannot  seek  in  faith  ;  "  for  he  that  cometh  to 
God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  dili- 
gently seek  him."  (Heb.  xi.  6.) 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  137 

On  the  other  hand,  "he  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the 
witness  in  himself;"  he  has  received  it  and  findeth  it  true  inexperience, 
and  as  expressed  by  the  same  Apostle  in  another  place,  from  the 
mouth  of  John  the  Baptist,  "  he  that  hath  received  his  testimony  hath 
set  to  his  seal  that  God  is  true."  (Jno.  iii.  33.)  Such  is  the  different 
influence  of  faith  and  unbelief,  or  disobedience.  Such  is  the  gift  of 
God  to  us;  such  is  the  gift  of  faith  ;  and  such  the  gift  of  his  Son,  and 
eternal  life  in  him,  that  we  have  no  longer  any  excuse  for  remaining  in 
sin,  when  once  we  are  found  by  the  Gospel ;  unless  this  be  an  excuse 
that  we  do  not  love  eternal  life  in  Christ,  because  of  the  cross  ;  and  that 
rather  than  crucify  the  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts,  rather  than 
confess  our  sins  and  forsake  them,  rather  than  deny  ourselves  and  take 
up  our  cross,  and  follow  Christ,  not  doing  our  own  will  but  in  all  things 
devoted  to  the  holy  will  of  God,  we  will  remain  in  death.  But  the  ob- 
jections are  not  done. 

8th.  It  will  be  alleged  that  some  cannot  believe,  even  of  those  who 
hear  the  Gospel,  for  the  want  of  authority,  power  or  privilege,  what- 
ever it  may  be  called,  through  the  express  appointment  of  God  to  that 
purpose  ;  in  defence  of  which  opinion  the  words  of  the  evangelist  John 
will  come  in  good  place  (xii.  37-40)  :  "  But  though  he  had  done 
so  many  miracles  before  them,  yet  they  believed  not  on  him  :  that  the 
saying  of  Esaias  the  prophet  might  be  fulfilled,  which  he  spake  ;  Lord, 
who  hath  believed  our  report.?  and  to  whom  hath  the  arm  of  the  Lord 
been  revealed  .''  Therefore,  they  could  not  believe,  because  that  Esaias 
said  again,  he  hath  blinded  their  eyes,  and  hardened  their  heart ;  that 
they  should  not  see  with  their  eyes,  nor  understand  with  their  heart, 
and  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them."  The  explication  of  this 
paj^sage  may,  by  some,  be  thought  arbitrary  and  forced  ;  but  those  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  ancient  manner  of  speech,  of  which  there  are 
many  examples  in  the  Scriptures,  as  before  shown,  will,  if  free  from 
prejudicial  influence,  have  more  correct  views. 

Now  it  is  inconsistent,  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  these  words  of 
the  Evangelist  should  be  understood  literally,  according  to  the  most 
familiar  forms  of  expression  amongst  moderns.  It  is  impossible  that 
those  Jews  should  have  rejected  Christ  and  his  doctrine,  in  the  face 
of  so  many  miracles  and  other  evidences,  for  the  sake  of  fulfilling  that 
prophecy  of  Esaias,  and  laying  themselves  open  to  conviction  as  un- 
believers. They  had  no  such  intentions  ;  neither  did  they  believe 
that  saying  of  Esaias  to  be  applicable  in  the  case.  To  have  believed 
that  must  have  presupposed  the  belief  that  Jesus  was  the  true  Mes- 
siah, and  that  his  testimony  was  the  report  which  the  prophet  com- 
plained was  not  believed.  Neither  did  God  prevent  them  from  be- 
lieving the  evidence  which  he  had  given  them  for  the  sake  of  fulfilling 
that  saying,  which  had  been  fulfilled  long  before,  among  the  disobedi- 
ent Jews,  and  was  then  fulfilling  daily,  in  its  true  import  as  relating 
especially  to  that  day.  But  as  it  was  common  to  the  Jews  to  use  the 
strongest  language,  and  often  in  the  figurative,  these  words,  "  that 
the  saying  of  Esaias  the  prophet  might  be  fulfilled,"  import  in  strong 
terms,  that  that  saying  was  fulfilled  in  them  and  with  great  justice  ap- 
plied.    Again : 

It  was  not  possible   that  they  could  believe,  because  that  Esaias 
said  again,  "  He  hath  blinded  their  eyes  and  hardened  their  heart, 


138  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

that  they  should  not  see,  nor  understand."  For  in  the  first  place 
these  sayings  are  not  found  literally  in  Esaias  ;  the  meaning  there- 
fore is  not  to  he  eonfinednor  understood  in  the  letter  of  the  language, 
but  is  clearly  this  :  They  could  not  believe,  because  they  were  pos- 
sessed of  that  spirit  of  blindness  and  hardness  of  which  Esaias  spoke, 
to  such  a  degree,  as  to  blind  their  eyes  and  harden  their  heart,  so 
that  they  could  not  see  nor  understand  the  things  which  pertained  to 
their  salvation.  And  this  spirit  of  blindness  and  hardness  which  pre- 
vented them  from  believing  was  of  themselves  and  not  of  God,  as  has 
been  shown  before.  "  For  God  cannot  be  tempted  of  evil,  neither 
tempteth  he  any  man  ;  but  every  man  is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn 
away  of  his  own  lust  and  enticed."  (Jas.  i.  13,  14.)  But  for  God 
to  give  the  people  over  to  their  own  hearts'  lusts,  or  to  that  spirit  of 
blindness  and  disobedience  which  they  had  treasured  up  by  their  own 
doings,  is  a  very  different  thing  from  laying  it  upon  them  by  any  di- 
rect agency,  without  any  cause  in  them,  and  gives  matters  quite  ano- 
ther aspect.  And  even  the  words  of  Isaiah,  strong  and  awful  asthey 
are,  do  not  necessarily  bear  any  such  meaning  as  that  God  had  sent 
him  to  impose  any  such  evil  condition  on  the  people,  which  they  had 
not  before,  but  to  show  them  what  kind  of  wicked  people  they  were, 
as  he  had  shown  abundantly  in  the  beginning  of  his  prophecy.  Thus, 
"  Go,  and  tell  this  people,  hear  ye  indeed,  but  understand  not ;  see 
ye  indeed,  but  perceive  not.  Make  the  heart  of  this  people  fat,  and 
make  their  ears  heavy,  and  shut  their  eyes  ;  lest  they  see  with  their 
eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and 
convert,  and  be  healed."  (Isa.  vi.  9,  10.)  Make  the  heart  of  this 
people  fat ;  make  it  so  in  thy  language  to  them,  that  is,  tell  them 
that  they  have  made  it  so  ;  and  so  of  the  rest.  I  am  very  bold  in 
this  interpretation  being  supported  by  the  apostle  Paul  who  hath 
quoted  this  same  prophecy  in  the  same  construction,  correctly  in  the 
words  of  the  Greek  septuagint,  and  by  no  means  foreign  from  the 
Hebrew  :  (Acts  xxviii.  25,  26,  27  ;)  and  then  the  words  are  illustra- 
ted by  the  next  quotation  below,  to  the  same  purport.  "  Well  spake 
the  Holy  Ghost  by  Esaias  the  prophet  unto  our  fathers,  saying.  Go 
unto  this  people,  and  say,  hearing  ye  shall  hear,  and  shall  not  under- 
stand ;  and  seeing  ye  shall  see,  and  not  perceive  ;  for  the  heart  of 
this  people  is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and 
their  eyes  have  they  closed  :  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes 
and  hear  with  their  ears."  Thus  they  have  done  these  things  to 
themselves,  by  their  own  conduct  to  defend  themselves  from  the 
galling  evidence  and  influence  of  divine  truth  which  they  hated, 
and  such  people  still  hate,  instead  of  that  spirit's  being  imposed  upon 
them  by  any  judicial  or  sovereign  act  of  God  to  prevent  them  from 
believing  and  being  healed.  The  Gospel  with  its  evidence  and  influ- 
ence, is  not  concealed  from  the  people  who  hear  it,  in  any  such  man- 
ner ;  for  if  it  be  concealed  from  any,  it  is  only  by  the  spirit  of  iniquity 
in  themselves,  the  god  of  this  world,  to  keep  them  from  being  con- 
strained by  its  influence  to  enter  that  path  of  holiness  which  is  so 
contrary  to  their  nature  and  inclination  ;  "  But  if  our  Gospel  be  hid, 
it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost,  [in  the  lost  state  of  sin,]  in  whom  the 
god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them  who  believe  not, 
lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  139 

God,  should  shine  unto  them."  (2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4.)  Thus  the  god  of 
this  world  conceals  the  light  of  the  Gospel  from  those  who  believe 
not,  and  not  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  God 
of  mercy,  truth  and  love  :  the  testimony  of  God  therefore  remains 
unvailed  for  the  belief  of  all. 

9th.  Another  serious  and  heavy  objection  with  some,  in  the  way 
of  the  unlimited  privilege  to  believe  and  lay  hold  on  eternal  life,  on 
the  authority  of  the  Gospel  testimony,  is,  that  Jesus  said,  "  No  man 
can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father  who  hath  sent  me  draw  him." 
(Jno.  vi.  44.)  And  this  drawing  is  supposed  to  mean  some  spiritual 
agency  of  the  Father  one  side  of  the  Gospel  testimony,  or  ministry, 
or  in  addition  thereto,  to  give  the  Gospel  efficiency.  Now  the  Gos- 
pel is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation,  and  the  admission  of  such  a 
spiritual  drawing  necessarily  contradicts  its  efficiency  ;  though  those 
of  that  faith  do  not  acknowledge  it.  But  it  cannot  consistently  be 
denied  that  whatever  needs  additional  agency  to  accomplish  any  cer- 
tain effect  is  not  itself  equal  to  its  intention.  If  therefore  any  agency 
or  drawing  of  the  Father,  in  addition  to  the  Gospel,  or  one  side  of 
it,  be  necessary  to  enable  any  one  to  come  to  Christ  or  to  believe  in 
him  for  salvation,  the  Gospel  is  no  longer  the  power  of  God  to  salva- 
tion ;  it  is  no  longer  an  adequate  remedy  for  the  lost  race. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  necessary  drawing  of  the  Father  is  not  in 
addition  to  the  Gospel  or  one  side  of  it,  but  is  a  part  of  the  Gospel 
work  which  the  Father  hath  reserved  in  his  own  hand  as  his  preroga- 
tive :  and  such  it  is  accounted.  This,  however,  will  by  no  means  re- 
move the  difficulty  ;  for  if  this  drawing  of  the  Father  be  considered 
as  being  a  part  of  the  Gospel  or  pertaining  to  it,  and  is  not  contained 
in  the  ministration  and  commission  committed  to  those  who  preach, 
Christ's  ministers  are  no  longer  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  have  no 
right  to  say,  "  We  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to 
God ;"  for  the  people  are  not  able  to  be  reconciled,  and  they  are  not 
able  to  help  them  or  tell  them  the  way  ;  they  are  no  longer  able  minis- 
ters of  the  New  Testament,  not  of  the  letter  but  of  the  Spirit ;  no 
longer  sent  to  the  people,  to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from 
darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  to  God,  that  they  may 
receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  that  are 
sanctified  by  faith  ;  all  which  are  the  express  works  of  the  ministers 
of  Christ,  which  God  hath  committed  to  them. 

Regeneration  is  attributed  to  God  as  his  own  work  ;  and  very  justly ; 
hence  it  is  frequently  called,  being  born  of  God,  as,  "We  know  that 
whosoever  is  born  of  God  sinneth  not."  But  it  is  effected  by  the 
preaching  of  that  word  which  is  committed  to  men,  as  it  is  written  : 
"Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  by  the  word  of  truth."  "Being  born 
again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God 
which  liveth  and  abideth  forever."  ^'■And  this  is  the  word  which  by 
the  Gospel  is' preached  unto  you.''''  "For  in  Christ  Jesus  I  have 
begotten  you  through  the  Gospel."  (1  Jno.  v.  18 ;  Jas.  i.  18 ;  1  Pet. 
i.  23,  25  ;  1  Cor.  iv.  15.)  Again  :  it  is  the  work  of  God  to  call  men 
out  of  darkness  into  the  light  of  his  kingdom.  "Who  hath  called 
you  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light."  "That  ye  would 
walk  worthy  of  God  who  hath  called  you  unto  his  kingdom  and 
glory."  (1  Pet.  ii.  9  j  1  Thes.  ii.  12.)     But  he  calls  by  that  same 


140  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

Gospel  whicli  lie  has  committed  to  his  ministers  ;  "  Whereunto  he 
called  you  hy  our  Gospel  to  the  obtaining  of  the  glory  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  (2  Thes.  ii.  14.) 

In  like  manner,  it  is  the  work  of  God  to  draw  souls  to  Christ.  But 
it  is  evident  that  he  draws  them  by  the  Gospel,  or  in  other  words,  by 
Christ  himself  set  forth  in  the  Gospel.  Christ  is  the  drawing  of  the 
Father,  the  loadstone  by  which  the  Father  draws  souls  to  himself; 
"  For  he  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  ;  and  no  man  cometh  to 
the  Father  but  by  him."  Accordingly  said  Jesus  again:  "And  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  "  And 
as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the 
Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up  ;  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish  but  have  eternal  life."  (Jno.  xiv.  6,  and  xii.  32,  and  iii. 
14,  15.)  According  to  this  view,  the  Gospel  is  all  of  a  piece,  and  the 
plan  which  God  has  laid  for  man's  redemption  is  perfect,  completely 
adapted  to  all  his  wants,  an  adequate  remedy,  "And  all  things  are 
of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself  by  Jesus  Christ,  and 
hath  given  to  us  the  ministry  of  reconciliation."  (2  Cor.  v.  18.) 
Thus  the  drawing  of  the  Father  is  treasured  up  in  Christ  and  given 
to  his  ministers.  And  the  words  which  follow  as  an  explanation  of 
the  text  quoted  in  the  objection  are  by  no  means  inconsistent  with 
this  view  of  the  subject :  "  It  is  written  in  the  prophets.  And  they 
shall  be  all  taught  of  God.  Every  man  therefore  that  hath  heard, 
and  hath  learned  of  the  Father  cometh  unto  me."  For  not  all  who 
hear,  not  all  who  are  taught,  learn  of  the  Father  ;  some  are  untract- 
able,  and  resist  his  Holy  Spirit,  as  we  shall  consider  shortly.  "  Not 
that  any  man  hath  seen  the  Father,  (none  therefore  are  taught  by 
him  immediately,)  save  he  who  is  of  God,  he  hath  seen  the  Father. 
(The  children  have  seen  him.)  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He 
that  believeth  on  me  hath  everlasting  life."  In  him  then  is  the 
drawing  of  the  Father,  in  him  we  may  all  hear  and  learn  of  the  Fa- 
ther, and  so  be  all  taught  of  God,  and  he  is  found  and  known  in  the 
Gospel  a  Saviour  near  at  hand  and  not  far  oif,  as  before  proved. 
"  For  the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith  speaketh  on  this  wise.  Say 
not  in  thine  heart.  Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven  ?  (that  is  to  bring 
Christ  down  from  above,)  or.  Who  shall  desend  into  the  deep  ? 
(that  is  to  bring  up  Christ  again  from  the  dead  :)  But  what  saith 
it .?  The  word  is  nigh  thee,  even  in  thy  mouth  and  in  thy  heart,  that 
is,  the  word  of  faith  which  we  preach."     (Rom.  x.  6,  7,  8.) 

On  this  view  of  the  subject,  the  drawings  and  teachings  of  the  Fa- 
ther are  all  within  the  reach  of  those  who  hear  the  Gospel ;  all  thingsbe- 
ing  ready  on  God's  part,  that  whosoever  will  may  come  ;  and  they 
who  reject  have  no  excuse,  because  they  do  it  of  their  own  voluntary 
choice,  refusing  to  be  persuaded  by  the  influence  and  authority  of 
God.  For  it  is  proved  by  express  Scripture,  that  men  can,  and  ac- 
tually do,  resist  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  so  as  to  prevent  his  saving 
operations  on  the  heart.  Thus  said  Stephen :  "  Ye  stiff-necked 
and  uncircumcised  in  heart  and  in  ears,  ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  as  your  fathers  did  so  do  ye."  And  Paul:  "It  was  neces- 
sary that  the  word  of  God  should  first  have  been  spoken  to  you; 
but  seeing  ye  put  it  from  you,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of 
everlasting  life,  lo,  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles ;  for  so  hath  the  Lord 
commanded  us,  saying,  I  have  set  thee  to  be  a  light  of  the  Gentiles, 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.         ^  141 

that  thou  shouldest  he  for  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth."  (Acts 
vii.  51,  and  xiii.  46,  47.)  This  word  of  God  then,  which  those  Jews 
put  from  them,  contradicting  and  blaspheming,  was  that  word  which, 
though  preached  by  men,  contained  in  it  everlasting  life,  with  Christ 
the  salvation  of  God. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  to  suppose  that  God  reserves  that  special 
drawing,  or  effectual  calling,  as  it   is    frequently  denominated,  as  a 
prerogative   in  his  own  hand,  without  which  all  other  means  and  en- 
deavours are  ineffectual  to  faith  and  justification,  they  who  do  not  be- 
lieve and  obey   are   not  inexcusable,  having  no  opportunity  of  com- 
plying.    It  is  in  vain  to  plead  that  their  duty  is  to  believe  in  Christ, 
and  they  must  necessarily  be  guilty  in  not  complying  with  their  duty ; 
for  dixty  implies  capability ;  it  is  no  man's  duty  to  do  that  which  is 
out  of  his  reach.     If  the  duty  of  all  is  to  believe  the  Gospel  when 
they  hear  it,  that  duty  requires  that  the  Gospel  be  furnished  with  suf- 
ficient authority,  even  the  authority  of  God,  and  ample  provision  for 
the  faith  and  obedience  of  every  man,  the  teachings  and  drawings  of 
the  Father  not  excepted.     But  how  weak  !  how  preposterous  is  it,  for 
men  to  insist  on  the  duty  of  all  men  to  believe  in  Christ,  as  many  do, 
who  believe  ;  not  only  that  it  is  impracticable  for  any,  except  those 
who  receive  that  special  drawing  which  they  cannot  resist,  but  also, 
that  should  any  man  suppose  he  would  gain  anything  towards  accept- 
ance with  God,  by  complying  with  his  duty,  the  duty  of  believing  in 
Christ  not  excepted,  it  would  be  legality,  he  would  be  fallen  from 
grace,  and  Christ  should  profit  him  nothing!     For  it  remains  true, 
that  "  Christ  is  become  of  no  effect  to  you  ;  whosoever  of  you  are  jus- 
tified by  the   law,  ye  are  fallen  from  grace."    (Gal.  v.   4.)     And 
"  those  whom   God  effectually  calleth,  he  also  freely  justifieth,"  say 
they,  "  not  for  any  thing  wrought  in  them,  but  for  Christ's  sake  alone  : 
not  by  imputing  faith  itself,  the  act  of  believing,  or  any  other  evan- 
gelical  obedience    to   them,    as  their    righteousness."     (See    Conf. 
Faith,  Chap.  XI.  Sec.  I.)     Strange  language  this,  to  be  used  by  a 
people  who  profess  to  be  directed  by  the  Scriptures,  in  which  they 
never  once  read  of  any  thing  being  imputed  to  any  man  except  his 
own  faith   or  works !     "  For  we   say  that  faith    was   reckoned   [or 
imputed]  to  Abraham  for  righteousness."     "Now,  it  was. not  writ- 
ten for  his  sake  alone,  that  it  was  imputed  to  him  ;  but  for  us  also, 
to  whom  it  shall  be  imputed  if  we  believe  on  him  that  raised  up  Jesus 
our  Lord  from  the  dead."  (Rom.  iv.  9,  23,  24.) 

But  such  plain  declarations  need  not  be  misunderstood.     The  doc- 
trines stated  above  relating  to  the  unlimited  privilege  and  duty  of  all 
to  believe  and  obey,  grounded  in  the  authority  of  God  as  proclaimed 
in  the  Gospel ;  and  the  impropriety  of  looking  for  any  special  opera- 
tion  or  drawing  of  the  Father  in  addition,  beyond,  or  anywise  ab- 
stractedly from  the  provision  made  in  the  Gospel,  and  committed  to 
those  who  are  sent  to   preach  it,  as  being  necessary  before  souls  can 
believe  and  set  out  to  follow  Christ ;  I  say,  these  doctrines,   as  often 
intimated,  relate  to  those  who  hear  the  Gospel,  that  is,  those  whom 
the  true  and  perfect  Gospel  hath  actually  found,  and  they  know  what 
it  is  and  where,  or   at  least  have  the  opportunity  of  knowing  by  suffi- 
cient evidence.     And  by  this  also  the  Gospel  maybe  known.     What- 
ever may  be  called  Gospel  or  the  preaching  thereof,  which  doth  not 


142  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

relieve  all  honestly  inquiring  minds  of  all  difficulty  on  these  subjects, 
and  set  them  at  full  liberty  to  make  their  choice  for  life  or  death,  is 
not  to  be  received  as  the  true  Gospel :  I  say,  honestly  inquiring 
minds ;  and  there  is  no  reason  why  those  who  are  awakened  enough 
to  be  honestly  in  quest  of  salvation  should  not  be  able  to  judge 
pretty  correctly  of  their  own  honesty,  when  they  hear  the  Gospel. 
I  give  this  rule  as  perfectly  according  with  the  Scriptures ;  for, 
according  to  these,  the  ministers  of  Christ  are  the  ministers  of  the 
Spirit ;  for  the  Lord  is  that  Spirit ;  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is,  there  is  liberty.  (2  Cor.  iii.  6,  17.) 

But  some  farther  observations  are  necessary  relative  to  the  above 
doctrines.  It  will  be  alleged,  that  it  is  true  enough,  all  may  believe 
and  come  to  Christ  who  will,  on  the  authority  of  the  Gospel  invitation  ; 
but  here  is  the  point  on  which  the  matter  rests,  that  the  people  will 
not  come,  and  have  no  power  to  will  any  thing  of  the  kind,  and  those 
special  drawings  of  the  Father  are  unavoidably  the  pivot  on  which 
the  whole  matter  finally  must  turn.  And  here  it  will  be  insisted  that 
God  is  clear  and  the  souls  who  perish  guilty,  because  the  reason  why 
they  do  not  believe  and  come  to  Christ  is  that  they  will  not,  and  how 
can  they  be  more  completely  without  excuse  ?  But  this  kind  of 
reasoning  affords  no  resolution  of  the  attending  difficulties,  or  relief 
to  the  mind ;  because  man's  incapability  to  be  willing  is  confessedly 
as  great  as  his  incapability  to  believe  or  come  to  Christ,  and  his  power 
as  much  out  of  his  reach,  being  unattainable  except  by  the  aforesaid 
special  drawing,  which  God  gave  to  others  and  not  to  them,  when 
there  was  no  reason  pertaining  to  the  others  why  they  should  be  pre- 
ferred, and  no  reason  in  those  who  are  left  why  they  should  not  have 
received  said  special  gift  as  well  as  those  who  received  it.  They  are 
therefore  no  more  inexcusable. 

But  it  has  been  alleged  that  God  has  promised  to  make  the 
people  willing.  Admitting  that  to  be  true,  that  he  has  promised 
and  will  do  it,  unless  he  make  all  willing,  after  such  unreserved  in- 
vitations as  are  contained  in  the  Gospel  offers,  his  character  is  by 
no  means  exculpated  from  the  charge  of  injustice,  while  any  one  is 
condemned  on  the  principle  stated  in  the  Scripture  ;  "  Because  he 
hath  not  believed.''^  But  it  is  not  true,  that  God  promised  to  make  the 
people  willing  to  believe  or  come  to  Christ,  especially  by  any  such 
special  gift  or  drawing.  To  prove  that  promise  the  words  of  David 
are  often  alleged  (Psa.  ex.  3)  :  "Thy  people  [shall  be]  willing  in 
the  day  of  thy  power."  But  these  words  have  nothing  in  them 
from_  which  such  a  promise  can  be  inferred,  being  simply  a  prophecy 
expressing  the  character  of  God's  people  in  the  time  of  the  Gospel 
kingdom,  as  a  willing  people,  who  follow  and  serve  him  of  choice. 
As  to  the  words  shall  be,  they  are  not  in  the  Hebrew,  and  are  simply 
expressive  of  futurity,  as  that  which  should  take  place  in  time  to 
come.  Another  Scripture  alleged  in  defence  of  the  aforesaid  pro- 
mise, or  the  doctrines  connected  with  it,  is  the  saying  of  the  Apos- 
tle, "  Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling  ;  for  it 
is  God  who  worketh  in  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  pleasure." 
(Phil.  ii.  12,  13.)  But  it  is  to  be  observed  thaa  this  was  not  written 
to  unbelievers  as  a  promise  of  helping  them  into  the  faith,  but  to 
those  in  the  faith,  for  the  encouragement  and  help  of  those  who  had 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  143 

already  complied  with  tlie  Gospel  call,  had  believed  and  been  sealed 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise.  "In  whom  ye  also  trusted,  after 
that  ye  heard  the  word  of  truth,  the  Gospel  of  your  salvation  :  in 
whom  also  after  that  ye  believed,  ye  were  sealed  with  that  Holy 
Spirit  of  promise."  They  were  also  such  as  had  kept  their  jus- 
tification by  obedience  ;  the  necessity  of  which  we  continually- main- 
tain. "  Wherefore,  my  beloved  ;  as  ye  have  always  obeyed,  not  as  in 
my  presence  only,  but  now  much  more  in  my  absence,  work  out 
your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling.  For  it  is  God  who 
worketh  in  you,  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  Pro- 
mises made  to  believers  do  not  belong  to  unbelievers  who  refuse  to 
comply  with  the  simple  and  reasonable  request  of  submitting  to  the 
Gospel  in  the  obedience  of  faith.  Believers  receive  the  Spirit ;  they 
keep  the  sayings  of  Christ ;  and  the  Father  and  the  Son  come  to 
them  and  make  their  abode  with  them  ;  they  are  the  temple  of  the 
living  God,  and  there  he  dwells  according  to  his  promise  ;  I  will  dwell 
in  them  and  icalk  in  ihem,  and  iheij  shall  be  ray  people  and  I  will  be  their 
God^  and  1  will  be  a  Father  to  them,  sailh  the  Lord  Almighty.  These, 
then,  who  believe  and  obey,  are  the  proper  subjects  of  his  saving 
work  and  special  power.  These  have  the  promise  of  eternal  life,  in 
Christ,  in  whom  they  have  believed,  and  are  kept  by  the  power  of 
God  through  faith  to  salvation.  And  others  are  freely  welcome  to 
the  same  privileges  and  blessings  ;  whosoever  will  submit  to  the  same 
door  of  access  ;  faith  and  obedience  :  but  without  that  submission 
they  are  excluded. 

But  I  shall  not  dispute  the  fact,  that  God  maketh  the  people 
willing,  for  the  work  is  all  of  God.  Not  by  any  special  agency  or 
drawing  beyond  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  but  by  inducing  them  by 
Gospel  motives.  Accordingly,  that  work  is  committed  to  his  minis- 
ters ;  "And  all  things  are  of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself 
by  Jesus  Christ,  and  hath  given  to  us  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  ;  to 
wit,  that  God  was  in  Chri>t  reconciling  the  world  to  himself,  not  imput- 
ing their  trespasses  to  them  ;  and  hath  committed  to  us  the  word  of 
reconciliation.  Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  [or,  i'iiChrst's 
stead,  or,  in  the  behalf  of  Christ ;  vifi^  XS^'^'^'^  '■>]  ^^  though  God  did  be- 
seech you  by  us :  ive  pray  you  in  Chrisfs  steady  [or  in  the  behalf  of 
Christ  \)n(s^  p^^itfrS,  as  above,]  be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  (2  Cor.  v.  18, 
19,  20.)  And  saith  Paul,  in  an  another  place  :  "  For  though  I  be  free 
from  all  men,  yet  have  I  made  myself  servant  to  all,  that  I  might  gain 
the  more.  And  to  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew,  that  I  might  gain  the 
Jews ;  to  them  that  are  under  the  law,  as  under  the  law,  that  I  might 
gain  them  that  are  under  the  law  ;  to  them  that  are  without  law,  as 
without  law,  (being  not  without  law  to  God,  but  under  the  law  to 
Christ,)  that  1  might  gain  them  that  are  without  law  ;  to  the  weak  be- 
came I  as  weak,  that  I  might  gain  the  vi^eak  :  I  am  made  all  things  to 
all  men,  that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some."  (1  Cor.  ix.  19-22.) 

Again :  1  will  not  deny  that  God  doth  work  a  preparatory  work 
among  the  people  who  know  not  the  Gospel,  fitting  and  preparing 
their  minds  for  its  reception.  Mankind  are  so  far  lost  from  God  in 
ignorance  of  his  true  nature,  and  in  the  carnal  mind  which  is  enmity 
against  God,  because  not  subject  to  his  law  neither  can  be,  that  the 
Gospel  never  could  have  access  to  them,  without  such  a  work,  but 


144  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

would  prove  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing.  "  Behold,  I  will  send  you 
Elijali  tlie  prophet  before  the  coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day 
of  the  Lord  :  and  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to  the  children, 
and  the  heart  of  tbe  children  to  the  fathers,  lest  I  come  and  smite 
the  earth,  with  a  curse."  (Mai.  iv.  5,  6.)  This  preparatory  work  is 
carried  on  either  more  immediately  by  the  Spirit  of  God  through  tbe 
ministration  of  unbodied  spirits,  or  more  ordinarily  by  communicating 
it  from  one  to  anotlier  by  the  ministration  of  those  who  are  in  the 
same  work,  while  all  tbe  time,  God  is  carrying  on  the  work,  making 
bis  angels  ministers  therein.  Thus  John  the  Baptist  was  sent  of  God 
to  do  a  preparatory  work  before  Jesus  Christ  who  brought  in  the  true 
Gospel,  as  it  is  written  of  him  :  "  And  many  of  the  children  of  Israel 
shall  lie  turn  to  the  Lord  their  God.  And  he  shall  go  before  him  in 
the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias,  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the 
children,  and  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just,  to  make  ready 
a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord."  (Luke  i.  16,  17.)  Thus  also  Paul 
was  convinced  by  a  revelation  from  Jesus  Christ  to  break  him  down 
in  the  midst  of  his  opposition  and  prepare  his  mind  for  hearing  the 
Gospel  by  Ananias,  a  minister  of  Christ,  and  a  member  of  his  body  ; 
Cornelius  also  had  an  angel  sent  to  him,  to  tell  him  by  whom  he  might 
hear  the  Gospel,  or  hear  words  whereby  he  and  his  house  might  be 
saved  ;  by  which  also  many  of  his  kinsmen  and  near  friends  were  put 
into  a  situation  to  receive  the  same  Gospel.  In  like  manner  the 
eunuch  had  his  mind  awakened,  and  prepared  by  the  Jewish  worship, 
and  the  reading  of  the  prophets,  to  receive  the  Gospel  by  Philip  the 
evangelist. 

But  this  preparatory  work  is  a  very  different  thing  from  that  sup- 
posed special  work,  or  drawing  of  the  Father,  beyond  the  limits  of 
that  Gospel  which  is  committed  to  his  ministers,  to  give  it  an  appli- 
cation, and  make  it  effectual.  For  this  preparatory  work  is  wrought 
in  those  who  know  not  the  Gospel,  although  they  live  in  the  land 
where  it  is,  as  did  Paul.  Besides,  in  this  preparatory  work  there  is 
nothing  saving  ;  although  in  it  there  is  often  a  ministration  of  much 
light  and  power  from  God.  John  was  a  burning  and  shining  light, 
but  was  not  the  true,  or  perfect  light ;  "The  same  came  for  a  witness 
to  bear  witness  of  that  light,  that  all  men  might  believe  through  him. 
He  was  not  that  light,  but  was  sent  to  bear  witness  of  that  light ;" 
(Jno.  i.  7,  8  ;)  and  led  the  people  so  far  out  of  their  old  system,  that 
they  were  able  to  reach  the  new  dispensation,  in  Christ.  ApoUos 
also,  being  an  eloquent  man,  was  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  was  in- 
structed in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  was  fervent  in  the  Spirit,  and  spoke 
and  taught  diligently  the.  things  of  the  Lord,  knowing  only  the  bap- 
tism of  John.  (Acts  xviii.  24,  25.)  The  seventy  disciples  also,  who 
were  yet  in  the  preparatory  work,  returned  from  their  mission,  say- 
ing, "Lord,  even  the  devils  are  subject  to  us  through  thy  name  5" 
(Luke  X.  17  ;)  while  entirely  ignorant  of  the  true  spirit  and  inward 
work  of  the  Gospel.  But  Christ  the  salvation  of  God,  is  known  in 
the  Gospel  alone.      The  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation. 

In  this  preparatory  work,  then,  people  often  have  great  exercises, 
deep  convictions,  and  much  rejoicing.  "  John  was  a  burning  and 
a  shining  light ;  and  ye  were  willing  for  a  season  to  rejoice  in  his 
light."  (Jno.  V.  35.)     Many  in  the  deep  labour  and  travail  of  their 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  145 

souls,  have  felt  the  burden  and  guilt  of  their  sins  to  an  enormous 
size  ;  have  seen  much  of  their  lost  estate  by  sin  ;  have  contemplated 
much  of  the  contrariety  and  enmity  of  their  nature  against  God, 
seeing  much  of  their  pollution  and  unholiness  ;  have  seen  their  pride 
in  the  things  of  the  earth  ;  have  seen  the  pollution  of  the  core  and 
source  of  their  existence  and  nativity,  in  their  natural  state,  the 
work  of  natural  generation,  as  being  a  work  in  which  God  is  not 
known,  in  which  there  is  nothing  of  God,  nor  any  thing  with  which 
God  can  have  any  fellowship,  and  that  they  who  live  in  it  can  have 
no  savour  for  the  nature  of  God ;  have  been  brought  into  the  very 
borders  of  despair,  and  felt  themselves  as  it  were  already  eternally 
excluded  from  the  notice  and  favour  of  God,  on  account  of  their  own 
internal  and  practical  wickedness.  After  such  scenes  of  distress, 
some  have  returned  to  their  former  course  of  wickedness  or  rather 
worse,  some  have  leavened  down  into  an  almost,  or  quite  insensible 
stupidity,  having  none  to  show  them  the  way  of  life.  Some  in  the 
midst  of  their  distress,  or  point  of  despondency,  have  been  led  to 
contemplate  the  freeness  and  fullness  of  the  salvation  of  God  in 
Christ,  with  which  their  hearts  have  closed  in,  and  as  far  as  they  have 
understood  it,  they  have  delighted  in  the  law  of  God  in  the  inner 
man  ;  with  this  their  souls  have  been  greatly  relieved,  and  over- 
whelmed with  a  sense  of  God's  goodness  and  love  to  them,  not  for- 
getting the  freedom  of  the  same  to  all  who  will  come  :  for  wherever 
any  thing  of  this  kind  comes  from  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  repre- 
sents the  true  salvation  of  God  unreservedly  free  to  all  who  will 
come. 

Much  might  be  said,  and  has  often  been,  on  the  exercises  of  those 
who  have  experienced  such  a  change  in  the  state  of  their  mind  ;  but 
this  is  not  the  object  here.  It  is  unnecessary, to  build  up  that  which 
cannot  stand.  With  all  these  exercises,  though  an  hundred-fold 
more  than  are  here  stated,  the  nature  of  evil  is  not  destroyed  ;  the 
soul  is  not  renovated  ;  the  root  of  bitterness,  the  carnal  mind,  is  still 
within.  The  man  is  still  an  old  bottle,  and  though  filled  with  new 
wine  a  thousand  times,  it  would  all  run  out  in  time.  Hence  the  con- 
fession of  indwelling  sin,  and  the  hardness  and  other  plagues  of  an 
evil  heart,  with  which  those  say  they  have  to  contend,  who  count 
themselves  converted  to  Christ  in  some  of  those  scenes  which  they 
have  experienced.  In  these  exercises  people  are  apt  to  form  their 
language  greatly  according  to  their  previous  education;  (some,  how- 
ever, are  led  in  them  to  a  better  understanding  of  things;)  some 
thank  God  for  his  distinguishing  love  to  them,  (meaning  that  he  hath 
included  them  in  his  special  election,)  rejoicing  in  the  righteousness 
of  Christ  imputed  to  them,  or  that  God  hath  forgiven  their  sins  for 
Christ's  sake,  meaning,  as  their  surety,  who  has  paid  their  debt — not 
considering  that  this  is  all  unscriptural ;  but  these  are  the  impres- 
sions of  their  previous  education.  But  whether  they  talk  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  imputed,  or  applied,  or  of  the  benefits  of 
Christ  received  by  faith,  while  they  expect,  or  believe  they  have 
received  justification  directly  by  faith,  it  amounts  to  the  same  thing 
in  substance.  No  justification  will  stand  the  judgment  of  God, 
which  hath  already  gone  forth  as  the  law  out  of  Zion,  only  that 
which  is  built  on  the  obedience  of  faith  ;  or  having  the  faith  of  Christ, 
11 


146  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

and  living  bis  life,  walking  even  as  lie  walked,   as  is  proved  in  its 
place. 

In  this  preparatory  work,  as  before  stated,  many  have  had  great 
light  and  power;  clear  views  of  many  Scriptures,  so  as  to  see  things 
in  the  light  of  God,  or  in  the  light  which  the  prophets  and  apostles 
had  when  they  wrote  them  ;  or  if  they  should  in  some  cases  even  ex- 
ceed in  the  gift  of  revelation,  all  this  would  not  prove  any  thing 
more  than  a  preparatory  work.  "And  though  I  have  the  gift  of 
prophecy,  (as  many  have  had  who  were  only  in  a  preparatory 
work,)  and  understand  all  mysteries  and  all  knowledge,  and  though 
I  have  all  faith,  so  that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and  have  not 
charity,  I  am  nothing."  (1  Cor.  xiii.  2.)  Having  these  things  given 
or  revealed  to  them  by  the  Spirit,  they  have  been  able  to  speak  with 
great  clearness,  and  to  preach  with  great  power  and  great  success, 
so  as  to  convert  many  into  the  same  circle  of  light  and  beginning 
liberty. 

Among  these,  some  conclude  they  are  in  the  safe  path,  they  are 
now  converted,  are  now  in  Christ,  and  expect  in  the  end  to  land  safe 
in  heaven  ;  but  not  being  ingrafted  in  the  true  vine,  which  is  Christ, 
they  are  exposed  to  leaven  back  into  the  manners,  the  customs,  the 
pride  and  lusts  of  the  world,  and  by  degrees  lose  their  lively  sense 
of  sin,  especially  in  the  source  of  it,  and  can  live  after  the  course  of 
the  world,  with  little  or  no  remorse.  If  they  can  keep  out  of  the 
commonly  condemned,  gross  iniquities,  can  support  a  name  in  the 
Church,  can  remember  their  conversion,  and  on  some  particular  oc- 
casions have  some  lively,  melting  feelings  of  somewhat  the  same  cast, 
although  they  find  sin  in  them  able  to  lift  up  its  head  from  day  to  day, 
they  hope  to  be  saved  in  the  end,  and  that  Christ  will  make  amends 
for  all  their  failings. 

But  others  cannot  rest  so  ;  nothing  will  do  for  them  but  full  deliv- 
erance ;  nothing  short  of  the  clearest  evidence  of  eternal  life  ;  no- 
thing short  of  the  death  and  final  removal  of  that  which  they  have 
found  to  separate  their  souls  from  God,  which  is  sin  in  the  very  root 
and  nature  as  well  as  its  works.  And  though  they  may  have  been 
converted  a  thousand  times  as  is  commonly  counted  conversion ; 
while  sin  is  there,  its  wages  are  inevitably  death;  wherever  it  is,  it 
unavoidably  carries  with  it  darkness,  guilt  and  proportionate  con- 
demnation ;  and  there  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked,  is 
the  eternally  haunting  sound  in  those  who  commit  sin,  and  are 
awake  to  see  it  :  these  imist  have  the  truth  and  the  substance.. 
Therefore  as  the  prayers  and  alms  of  Cornelius  came  up  for  a  me- 
morial before  God,  and  he  sent  him  help,  so  does  God  look  on  the 
condition  of  those  who  cannot  do  without  the  perfect  and  everlasting 
Gospel,  and  send  it  to  them.  And  when  it  comes,  it  is  with  full  au- 
thority for  their  faith,  and  full  provision  for  all  their  wants,  as  already 
stated. 

But  not  all  who  partake  in  the  preparatory  work  receive  the  Gos- 
pel when  they  hear  it.  Of  the  multitudes  who  followed  John,  and 
crowded  after  Jesus  and  his  disciples,  few  would  endure  the  doctrines 
of  the  cross.  Hence  it  is  said  on  a  certain  occasion,  after  he  had  been 
teaching  the  necessity  of  eating  his  flesh  and  drinking  his  blood,  "  From 
that  time  many  of  his  disciples  went  back,  and  walked  no  more  with  him..'''' 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  147 

(Jno.  vi.  66.)  And  of  those  who  have  great  anxiety  to  be  saved,  all 
do  not  obey  the  Gospel  when  they  find  it ;  some  stumble  at  the  cross. 
Hence  also  the  young  man  of  whom  the  Evangelists  have  spoken,  who 
had  such  anxiety  to  be  saved  when  he  heard  of  the  cross,  the  giving  of 
all  he  had  to  the  poor,  and  taking  up  his  cross  and  following  Christ,  was 
sad  at  the  saying,  and  though  sorrowful,  yet  he  went  away.  In  like 
manner,  hundreds,  not  to  say  thousands,  of  the  people  who  were 
more  or  less  partakers  of  the  preparatory  work  in  Kentucky,  and  the 
adjacent  States,  many  of  whom,  too,  had  great  desires  and  earnest 
labours  for  eternal  life,  and  cried  with  great  anxiety  for  deliverance 
from  the  last  and  least  remains  of  sin,  yet  when  the  Gospel  appeared, 
and  opened  the  way  of  deliverance  by  the  cross,  with  full  power  to 
save,  soon  descried  the  cross,  and  turned  away.  Some  turning  like 
the  dog  to  his  vomit,  or  the  sow  that  was  washed  to  her  wallowing  in 
the  mire  ;  while  others  concluded  they  were  on  safe  ground,  and 
would  there  remain;  and  some  openly  renounced  the  light  which 
they  had  received  and  testified  to  be  of  God,  that  they  might  be  fur- 
nished with  a  more  plausible  pretext  for  rejecting  the  testimony  of  the 
cross. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  true  Gospel,  when  it  opens,  is  not 
confined  to  those  who  have  been  actual  subjects  of  the  preparatory 
work ;  for,  after  the  way  has  been  once  prepared  to  let  it  among  the 
people,  and  it  has  made  its  entrance,  its  invitations  are  extended  to 
all  who  have  been  awakened,  or  now  will  take  the  alarm,  and  its  pro- 
visions are  equally  sufficient  for  all  who  will  come.  So  that  all  being 
within  the  reach  of  salvation  where  the  Gospel  comes,  are  left  without 
excuse. 

Farther :  It  is  true  that  men  cannot  believe  without  evidence  ; 
and  they  cannot  be  expected  to  believe  without  understanding  or  see- 
ing into  the  evidence  of  the  Gospel,  so  far  at  least  as  to  produce  con- 
viction of  its  truth,  on  fair  and  reasonable  grounds.  But  this  is  so 
far  from  exeulpatiug  those  who  believe  not,  that  on  this  ground  they 
are  fairly  and  readily  criminated  ;  especially  because  they  yield  not 
so  far  as  to  give  the  evidence  or  testimony  a  fair  investigation,  having 
descried  the  cross  of  Christ,  on  which  they  are  to  be  crucified  with 
him,  and  at  which  they  stumble.  Those  who  honestly  contemplate 
the  Gospel  testimony,  receiving  the  word  with  an  honest  and  good 
heart,  and  are  willing  to  obey  the  truth'  wherever  it  is  found,  will  not 
be  lacking  for  evidence.  Not  only  because  the  testimony  of  the 
Gospel  is  rational  and  consistent  with  the  understanding,  but  because 
God  is  always  ready  to  assist  those  who  honestly  serve  him  to  the 
best  of  their  knowledge,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  after 
they  have  received  the  true  Gospel,  or  in  a  preparatory  work,  and 
yet  in  nature.  Thus,  Cornelius  being  honest  to  the  light  which  he 
had,  God  sent  him  farther  instructions.  Thus,  also,  Lydia,  being  a 
worshipper  of  God,  came  lo  hear  the  Gospel,  "  whose  heart  the 
Lord  opened  that  she  attended  to  the  things  which  were  spoken 
of  Paul ; "  and  having  heard,  she  believed,  and  was  baptized.  "  So, 
then,  faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God." 
(Acts  xvi.  14,  15 ;  Rom.  x.  17.)  But  those  who  do  not  improve,  but 
reject  the  light  and  opportunity  which  they  have  given  to  them,  need 
not  expect  to  receive  farther  help  from  God,  but  to  lose  what  they 


148  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

have.  "  For  to  him  that  hath  shall  be  given  ;  and  from  him  that  hatii 
not,  even  that  he  hath  shall  he  taken  away."  (Luke  xix.  26.)  In 
many  other  respects  God  works  more  remotely  in  the  course  of  his 
providence,  by  afflictions,  crosses  and  distresses,  or  by  setting  bounds 
to  men's  habitations,  to  prepare  the  mind  for  the  reception  of  the 
Gospel,  as  it  is  written :  "  And  hath  determined  the  times  before  ap- 
pointed and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation  ;  that  they  should  seek  the 
Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him  and  find  him."  (Actsxvii.  26, 
27. )  But  none  of  these  things  amount  to  a  saving  work  until  the  Gospel 
is  known,  believed  and  obeyed  ;  foi-  it  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation. 

10th.  From  the  doctrines  before  treated  of,  and  the  answers  to  the 
foregoing  objections,  another  may  arise :  That  the  plan  appears  alto- 
gether legal,  calculated  to  engage  the  attention  of  mankind  to  the 
Gospel  by  motives  of  self-interest ;  whereas  a  true  Gospel  motive  is 
the  glory  of  God :  it  is  truly  the  work  of  Antichrist  to  subvert  order. 
But  God  is  a  God  of  order,  and  not  of  confusion.  That  the  glory  of 
God  is  the  ultimate  and  highest  end  of  all  his  works  is  not  contested ; 
and  that  the  happiness  of  his  creatures  is  in  subordination  thereto. 
But  the  happiness  of  his  creatures  is  also  subservient  to  the  glory 
of  God.  '■'■Praise  waiteth  for  thee,  O  God,  in  Zion.''^  "That  we 
should  be  to  the  praise  of  his  glory,  who  first  trusted  in  Christ." 
"  And  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  "  And  I  will  place  salvation  in 
Zion  for  Israel,  my  glory."  (Psa.  Ixv.  1 ;  Eph.  i.  12;  Phil.  ii.  11; 
Isa.  xlvi.  13.)  Thus,  the  Israel,  or  Church  of  God,  is  his  glory.  If, 
then,  the  happiness  of  his  creatures  subserves  the  purposes  of  God's 
glory,  and  is  connected  with  it,  their  happiness  is  a  justifiable  motive 
and  justifiable  pursuit.  And  men  must  attain  to  the  less  before  they 
can  reach  the  greater.  It  is,  therefore,  justifiable  and  proper  to  invite 
and  stimulate  men  to  obedience,  with  a  view  to  their  own  happiness. 
But  God,  of  his  own  free  mercy  and  love,  has  regard  to  the  creature's 
happiness:  "According  to  his  mercy  he  hath  saved  us."  "  In  this 
was  manifested  the  love  of  God  toward  us,  because  that  God  sent 
his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world  that  we  might  live  through 
him."  "We  love  him  because  he  first  loved  us."  (Tit.  iii.  5;  1 
Jno.  iv.  9,  19.)  To  love  God  therefore  in  gratitude  for  his  love  to  us 
is  a  justifiable  exercise  ;  besides,  that  the  love  of  God  to  us  hath 
paved  the  way  and  laid  the  foundation  of  our  love  to  him. 

I  must  confess,  I  have  no  faith  that  I  ever  saw  a  Christian  legalist, 
a  Christian  professor,  who  depended  on  the  excluded  law  of  works 
for  life  or  justification.  No  law  instituted  by  God  was  ever  excluded 
from  the  faith  of  a  Christian  after  the  ceremonial  law  of  Moses ;  and 
who  ever  saw  any  man,  not  a  professed  Jew,  make  the  least  attempt 
to  gain  life  by  that  law .''  Or  if  in  some  countries  some  have  endea- 
voured to  combine  the  Jewish  law  with  Christianity,  or  consolidate 
them  into  one,  they  are  by  no  means  on  equal  standing  with  those  who 
expect  justification  and  life,  solely  by  the  obedience  of  faith,  even 
the  faith  of  Christ. 

But  the  dealings  of  God  with  men  every  where,  show  that  he 
esteems  it  justifiable  and  proper  to  engage  them  to  obedience,  by  a 
respect  to  their  own  safety  and  happiness.  The  truth  of  this  will 
appear  to  all  who  will  consult  the  Scriptures  without  partiality  ;  where- 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  149 

in,  notwithstanding  ttat  the  glory  of  God  is  preferred,  as  being  the 
highest  end  and  final  result  of  all,  yet  the  happiness  of  men  is  not 
only  secured,  but  presented  to  them,  as  the  first  moving  cause,  to 
stimulate  them  to  obedience.  "  Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  toge- 
ther, saith  the  Lord  ;  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as 
white  as  snow  ;  though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as 
wool.  If  ye  be  willing  and  obedient  ye  shall  eat  the  good  of  the 
land  ;  but  if  ye  refuse  and  rebel  ye  shall  be  devoured  with  the  sword  ; 
for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."   (Isa.  i.  18,  &c.) 

And  to  suppose  it  legal,  or  anti-evangelical,  to  use  the  rewards  held 
forth  in  the  Gospel  to  influence  men  to  consult  their  own  happiness, 
is  wild  and  preposterous  in  the  extreme,  if  we  consider  but  for  a  moment 
the  manner  in  which  Jesus  and  his  disciples  addressed  themselves  to 
the  people  :  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me  ; 
for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart:  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls. 
For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden  is  light."  (Matt.  xi.  28,  30.) 
"  Now  when  they  heard,  they  were  pricked  in  their  heart  and  said  un- 
to Peter  and  the  rest  of  the  apostles.  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall 
we  do  ?  Then  Peter  said  unto  them,  Repent,  and  be  baptized  every 
one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  the  promise  is 
to  you,  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  ofi",  even  as  many 
as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call.  And  with  many  other  words  did  he 
testify  and  exhort,  saying.  Save  yourselves  from  this  untoward  genera- 
tion :"  "  Repent  ye,  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may 
be  blotted  out,  that  the  times  of  refreshing  may  come  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord.  (Acts.  ii.  37-40,  iii.  19.)  Thus  the  first  counsel 
to  mankind  is  to  consult  their  own  safety  ;  not  only  to  those  who  have 
just  heard  the  Gospel,  to  gain  their  attention  and  compliance,  but  to 
those  also  who  have  already  believed  and  begun  to  partake  of  its  grace. 
"  Wherefore  the  rather,  brethren,  give  diligence  to  make  your  call- 
ing and  election  sure  ;  for  if  ye  do  these  things,  [certain  duties  be- 
fore enjoined,]  ye  shall  never  fall.  For  so  an  entrance  shall  be  min- 
istered unto  you  abundantly  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  (2  Pet.  i.  10, 11.)  "  Work  out  your  own 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling."  But  to  instance  all  the  examples, 
would  be  to  recite  almost  the  whole  of  all  the  exhortations  and  coun- 
sels given  in  the  Scriptures. 

See  also  with  what  care  and  perseverance  the  faith  of  Abraham 
and  of  Moses  was  fixed  on  the  reward.  "  By  faith  Abraham,  when 
he  was  called  to  go  unto  a  place  which  he  should  after  receive  for  an 
inheritance,  obeyed  ;  [he  did  not  only  believe  ;]  and  he  went  out,  not 
knowing  whither  he  went.  By  faith  he  sojourned  in  the  land  of  pro- 
mise, as  in  a  strange  country,  dwelling  in  tabernacles,  with  Isaac  and 
JacolD,  the  heirs  with  him  of  the  same  promise  :  for  he  looked  for  a 
city  which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God." 
"  By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was  come  to  years,  refused  to  be  called  the 
son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ;  choosing  rather  to  suff"er  affliction  with 
the  people  of  God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  ; 
esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of 
Egypt:  for  he  had  respect  to  the  recompense  of  reward.''''     Thus  that 


150  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

faith,  is  recommended  which  had  respect  to  the  best  recompense  of 
reward,  not  only  in  Moses,  but  in  Abraham  and  others  who  waited  for 
the  blessing  contained  in  the  promises  ;  "These  all  died  in  faith,  not 
having  received  the  promises,  but  having  seen  them  afar  oif,  and  were 
persuaded  of  them,  and  embraced  them,  and  confessed  that  they 
were  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth.  For  they  that  say  such 
things  declare  plainly  that  they  seek  a  country.  And  truly  if  they  had 
been  mindful  of  that  country  from  whence  they  came  out,  they  might 
have  had  opportunity  to  have  returned ;  but  now  they  desire  a  better 
country,  that  is,  cm  heavenly  :  wherefore  God  is  not  ashamed  to  be  called 
their  God  ;  for  he  hath  prepared  for  them  a  citi/.''''  Thus  God  approved 
their  zeal  in  seeking  a  better  country,  a  better  inheritance,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  that  which  was  inferior ;  and  he  is  not  ashamed  of  them. 
"  Wherefore,  seeing  we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud 
of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so 
easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before 
us,  looking  to  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  [first  leader  and  perfecter] 
of  faith;  ivho,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him,  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne 
of  God."  (Heb.xii.  1,  2.)  As  we  have  the  example  of  all  the  faithful, 
and  of  Jesus,  the  Lord  and  Master  of  all,  the  author  and  finisher 
of  the  true  faith,  in  having  respect  to  the  recompense  of  reward  set 
before,  let  us  no  more  call  it  legality  to  invite  and  stimulate  mankind 
by  the  hope  of  eternal  life,  to  fill  up  the  number  of  the  blessed — let  us 
no  more  damp  the  zeal  of  those  who  would  feel  after  God,  and  seek 
eternal  life,  by  persuading  them  that  they  must  begin  in  the  highest 
grade  of  a  perfect  man  in  Christ — or  that  all  attempts  to  gaiij  eternal 
life  are  useless  until  that  point  is  obtained.  How  weak  would  it  be  to 
feed  with  the  strongest  meat  the  child  who  is  scarcely  able  to  use  the 
mildest  milk ! 

Mankind,  in  their  natural  state,  entirely  pursue  their  own  desires 
and  their  own  will,  until  cheeked  by  some  adequate  cause,  and  have 
nothing  in  them,  to  influence  them  at  all  to  seek  the  glory  of  God. 
But  when  men  have  learned  to  know  God  in  some  good  degree,  to 
experience  the  benefit  of  his  grace  and  salvation,  and  view  him  as 
being  in  reality  superior  to  all  other  beings,  his  nature  and  will  as 
being  truly  best,  they  are  then  capable  of  being  led  to  seek  the  glory 
of  God  and  feel  interested  in  it.  "  We  love  him  because  he  first  loved 
us."  But  it  is  not  possible  that  any  man  should  love  his  enemy  and 
seek  his  honour,  in  that  character  ;  it  is  therefore  impossible  that  men 
should  be  induced  to  have  a  simple  respect  to  the  glory  of  God,  until 
they  come  to  know  the  real  excellence  of  his  character.  God  is  love. 
"  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for 
his  friend."  "  But  God  commendeth  his  love  toward  us,  in  that, 
while  we  were  yet  enemies,  Christ  died  for  us."  Accordingly,  the 
first  proposals  of  God  to  men,  towards  bringing  them  to  serve  him 
and  seek  his  glory,  are  those  which  respect  their  own  happiness.  In 
this  way  men  are  gained  to  subject  themselves  to  the  will  of  God,  to 
deny  themselves,  renouncing  their  own  wills,  and  to  crucify  the  car- 
nal mind  which  is  enmity  against  God,  that  God  may  eventually  be 
all  in  all. 

To  object,  therefore,  to  the  foregoing  doctrines  as  being  legal,  be- 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  151 

cause  men  are  invited  and  urged  to  consult  their  own  safety  by- 
believing  and  obeying,  is  altogether  weak  and  unreasonable,  worthy 
of  those  only  who  oppose  the  Gospel,  which  calls  for  men  to  deny 
themselves  and  take  up  their  cross  and  follow  Christ. 

I  should  now  proceed  to  the  last  of  the  principal  and  most  interest- 
ing objections  to  be  stated  in  this  place,  relating  to  election  ;  but  as 
it  will  require  considerable  scope  to  investigate  it  freely,  I  shall  refer 
it  to  the  next  chapters,  and  close  this  with  a  compendious  statement 
and  vindication  (partly  by  way  of  recapitulation)  of  some  of  the  lead- 
ing points  against  which  these  objections  are  raised.  For  we  have  so 
far  answered  the  heaviest  objections  against  the  practical  doctrine  of 
justification  by  the  obedience  of  faith,  that  we  have  full  liberty  to 
consider  it  unhurt.  What  therefore  is  now  to  be  stated  and  proved, 
is,  that  obedience  is  as  properly  the  character  of  a  Christian  as  believ- 
ing. And  in  this  part  it  will  be  considered  that  a  man's  justification 
before  God,  and  in  his  own  conscience,  depends  on  the  very  same 
efficient  cause,  as  the  appellation  of  Christian,  in  all  cases  where  the 
term  is  justly  applied.  For  no  man  hath  any  right  to  the  appellation 
of  a  Christian^  unless  he  can  show  the  grounds  of  his  justification  on 
all  proper  occasions  ;  for  the  righteousness  of  God,  without  the  law, 
which  was  attested  by  the  law  and  the  prophets,  even  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  through  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  manifested,  not  only 
to  all  but  also  upon  all  them  that  believe.  This  is  that  righteousness 
which  is  declared,  through  the  forbearance  of  God,  and  not  by  impu- 
tation, for  the  remission  of  sin.  This  righteousness,  then,  is  that  which 
God  will  accept,  which  also  consists  in  each  one's  doing  the  will  of 
God  as  Jesus  did  it,  as  has  been  already  j)roved ;  for  "  he  that  doeth 
righteousness  is  righteous  even  as  he  is  righteous." 

It  is  true,  that  faith,  or  believing,  is  more  commonly  used  to  ex- 
press the  character  of  Christians,  or  rather  to  nominate  them  as  a 
people  distinct  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  as  well  as  to  point  to  the 
grounds  of  their  justification  ;  for  which  these  obvious  reasons  may 
be  given.  That  genuine  faith,  kept  alive  to  the  support  of  genuine 
Christianity,  always  included  obedience ;  and  there  could  be  no  true 
obedience  or  Christianity  without  faith  ;  for  without  faith  it  is  impos- 
sible to  please  God.  Besides  ;  no  man  could  be  induced  to  follow 
Christ  bearing  the  cross  and  practising  the  self-denial  which  he 
taught,  under  all  the  persecution  and  reproaches  which  attached  to 
that  life,  without  faith  to  support  him.  Faith  is  a  true  shield  in  the 
armour  of  God,  which  his  people  wear  ;  "  Above  all,  taking  the 
shield  of  faith  wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery 
darts  of  the  wicked."  "  And  this  is  the  victory  which  overcometh 
the  world,  even  our  faith."  (Eph.  vi.  16  ;  iJno.v.  4.)  Add  to  these 
things,  that  the  doctrine  of  justification  and  salvation,  by  the  faith  of 
Jesus  Christ,  was  contrary  to  the  ceremonies  of  Moses,  and  so  new 
and  strange  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity,  to  those  who  had  been 
inured  to  that  law,  that  there  was  in  many  a  great  propensity  to  turn 
back  to  those  beggarly  elements ;  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  keep 
the  sentiment  alive. 

And  such  was  the  necessity  of  supporting  the  doctrine  of  faith  in 
Christ  by  those  Scriptures  which  the  people  believed,  particularly 
the  Jews^  some  of  whom  were  found  in  all  the  churches,  and  were 


152  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

according  to  tke  order  of  iheiv  calling  required  to  stand,  as  it  •were„ 
the  first  pillars  of  tlie  CliTircli  of  the  Messiah,  that  the  Apostle  col- 
lected almost  every  word  in  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  which 
could  subserve  his  purpose  ;  and  amongst  them  all  did  not  find  one 
to  teach  justification  by  faith  without  obedience.  And  indeed  that 
was  impossible  ;  for  the  whole  Mosaic  dispensation  stood  in  the  prin- 
ciple of  obedience  ;  although  faith  was  necessary  then  as  well  as 
after  Christ  appeared.  But  faith  and  obedience,  in  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation, are  in  a  difi"erent  train  from  what  they  were  in  the  Mosaic, 
being  directed  more  towards  the  spirit  and  substasnce.  Bat  the  Apos- 
tle was  ingenious  enough,  according  to  the  wisdom  given  to  him,  to* 
leave  out  the  character  and  works  of  the  person  justified,  whea  he 
would  prove  jxistification  by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  laWj 
though  these  were  the  proximate  and  procuring  cause  of  their  justi- 
fication, lest  his  hearers  should  thereby  be  induced  to  cleave  to  the 
same  law,  or  lest  his  reasoning  should  not  appear  sufficiently  plain  to 
those  who  did  not  understand  as  clearly  as  he.  But  the  apostles  and 
the  evangelists  who  recorded  the  words  of  Christ,  have  Bot  left  us  in 
such  penury  of  proof  for  the  necessity  of  obedience  to  constitute  u& 
real  Christians,  or  as  the  grounds  and  maintenaEce  of  our  acceptance 
with  God.  While  not  one  word  is  said  in  all  their  writings  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  being  imputed  to  us  for  our  Justification, 
much  is  said  of  the  necessity  of  obedience,  and  of  their  being  accept- 
able and  safe  who  render  it  to  God.  For  in  eTery  nation,  he  that 
feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  [not  hath  righteoTssness  imputecl 
to  him,]  is  accepted  of  him. 

A  mighty  outcry  is  raised  against  the  notioB  of  any  one  inheriting 
righteousness  in  himself,  or  iB  his  own  character  and  works,  as  though 
that  man  must  certainly  fail  of  being  saved,  and  be  ultimately  ruined, 
who  expects  God  will  aeeept  him  in  his  c>wn  personal  works  of  rigM- 
eousness,  his  own  doings  or  obedience.  But  none  of  these  things 
move  the  Christian,  who  understands  the  law  of  faith  in  Christ  Jesus. 
For  he  knows  that  without  obedience  bo  faith  will  jttstify  any  man 
before  God ;  and  supported  by  the  words  of  Christ,  he  is  not  afraici 
to  say.  Except  your  righ!eousness  [not  the  righteousness  of  another 
imputed  to  you}  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and 
pharisees^  ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Thus 
Jesus,  who  came  to  do  the  will  of  God  as  it  was  written  of  him  in  the 
volume  of  the  book,  and  to  establish  the  doing  of  the  will  of  God,  as 
that  in  which  he  would  take  delight,  ia  the  room  of  the  sacrifices 
which  were  offered  by  the  law,  as  before  shown,  has  not  only  set  us 
that  example,  but  has  taught  us  by  his  words  that  he  who  doeth  the 
will  of  God,  (not  who  has  the  doing  of  his  will  by  anotber  imputed 
to  him,)  shall  dwell  with  God  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  "  Not 
every  one  that  saith  unto  me.  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  but  he  who  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven."  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant;  thou  hast  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  tbings  : 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

A  Christian  is  not  afraid  of  being  blessed  in  bis  doings,  provided 
his  deeds  be  (as  those  of  a  Christian  are)  according  to  the  perfect 
law  of  liberty  ;  "  But  whoso  looketh  into  the  perfect  law  of  liberty,, 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  153 

and  eontinuetli  therein,  lie  being  not  a  forgetful  hearer,  but  a  doer  of 
the  work,  this  man  shall  be  blessed  in  his  deed."  (Jas.  i.  25.)  And 
of  such  importance  is  obedience,  and  so  essential  to  the  very  existence 
of  Christianity,  that  it  is  given  by  the  Apostle  as  the  very  criterion  of 
the  true  Christian.  "  Know  ye  not  that  to  whom  ye  yield  your- 
selves servants  to  obey,  his  servants  ye  are,  to  whom  ye  obey,  whether 
of  sin  unto  death  or  of  obedience  unto  righteousness.  But  ye  have 
obeyed  from  the  heart,  that  form  of  doctrine  which  was  delivered 
you."  (Rom.  vi.  16,  17.)  And  not  only  so  ;  but  the  Gospel  was  also 
sent  and  the  Apostles  commissioned  to  the  people  to  bring  them  to 
obedience,  without  which  it  is  evident  their  faith  would  have  done 
them  no  good.  "By  whom,"  saithPaul,  "we  have  received  grace,  and 
apostleship,  for  obedience  to  the  faith  among  all  nations  for  his 
name."  "To  make  the  Gentiles  obedient  by  word  and  deed."  (Rom. 
i.  5,  and  xv.  18.)  Hence  the  increase  of  the  Gospel  is  marked  by 
the  numbers  who  obeyed  ;  "  And  the  word  of  God  increased  :  and  the 
number  of  the  disciples  multiplied  in  Jerusalem  greatly  5  and  a  great 
company  of  the  priests  were  obedient  to  the  faith."  (Acts  vi.  7.) 
And  the  Gospel  which  is  to  bring  all  nations  to  obedience  in  Christ, 
even  to  the  obedience  of  faith,  is  expressly  the  mystery  which  was 
kept  secret  until  Christ  came,  as  taught  by  Paul  to  the  Romans  in 
the  close  of  his  epistle,  after  all  he  had  said  of  the  use  of  faith  for 
justification.  "  Now,  to  him  that  is  of  power  to  establish  you  accord- 
ing to  my  Gospel,  and  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  (according  to 
the  revelation  of  the  mystery,  which  was  kept  secret  since  the  world 
began,  but  now  is  made  manifest,  and  by  the  Scriptures  of  the 
prophets,  according  to  the  commandment  of  the  everlasting  God, 
made  known  to  all  nations  for  the  obedience  of  faith,)  to  God  only 
wise,  be  glory  through  Jesus  Christ  for  ever,  Amen."  (Rom.  xvi. 
25-27.) 

Accordingly  God,  even  the  Father,  judgeth  every  man  according 
to  his  works,  as  saith  the  Apostle  :  "  And  if  ye  call  on  the  Father 
who,  without  respect  of  persons,  judgeth  according  to  every  man's 
works,  pass  the  time  of  your  sojourning  here  in  fear."  And  the 
declaration  of  Christ  is,  "Behold,  I  come  quickly  ;  and  my  reward 
is  with  me,  to  give  every  man  according  as  his  works  shall  be." 
(1  Pet.  i.  17  ;  Rev.  xxii.  12.)  And  in  that  striking  description  which 
Jesus  gave  of  the  last  judgment,  a  little  before  his  crucifixion,  the 
character  and  reward  of  each  class  are  determined  by  their  works. 
(Matt.  XXV.  31,  &c. :)  "When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his 
glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon  the 
throne  of  his  glory  ;  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations, 
and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth 
his  sheep  from  the  goats  ;  and  he  shall  set  the  sheep  on  his  right 
hand,  but  the  goats  on  the  left.  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto 
them  on  his  right  hand.  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  ; 
for  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat :  I  was  thirsty,  and 
ye  gave  me  drink  :  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in  :  naked, 
and  ye  clothed  me  :  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me  :  I  was  in  prison, 
and  ye  came  unto  me."  To  the  best  of  my  remembrance,  the 
famous  George  Whitefield,  in  a  sermon   on  justification,  acknow- 


154  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

ledges  this  to  be  tlie  most  favourable  argument  for  justification  by 
works  which  he  had  heard,  but  objects  that  it  will  not  carry  through, 
because  the  righteous  disclaimed  the  performance  of  those  deeds  ; 
"  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer  him,  saying.  Lord,  when  saw  we 
thee  an  hungered,  and  fed  thee  ?  or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee  drink  ? 
When  saw  we  thee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in  ?  or  naked,  and 
clothed  thee  ?  or  when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  came  un- 
to thee  ?"  But  his  objection  is  indeed  weak  enough,  considering 
the  light  and  abilities  which  he  had,  and  shows  the  influence  of  sys- 
tematic prepossession  over  the  judgment.  How  easy  is  it  to  see, 
that  what  the  righteous  disclaimed  was  not  the  principle,  or  grounds 
of  their  acceptance,  but  that  they  did  not  understand,  how  or 
wherein  they  had  done  these  good  deeds  ?  When  did  we  see  thee 
in  these  conditions  and  perform  these  things  to  thee  ?  But  the  Judge 
unravels  the  mystery  by  letting  them  know,  that  to  do  good  to  his  peo- 
ple is  the  same  as  to  do  good  to  himself.  "  And  the  king  shall  an- 
swer and  say  unto  them.  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Inasmuch  as  ye  have 
done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  to 
me  ;"  and  on  this  they  are  silent,  and  the  judgment  is  decided  in  their 
favour,  on  the  principle  on  which  it  was  first  proposed.  On  the  same 
principle  the  wicked  are  rejected  as  not  having  done  those  deeds  of 
righteousness  which  the  righteous  had  done,  and  which  it  was  also 
their  duty  to  do.  These  also  object  to  the  charge  of  treating  him 
with  such  unkindness,  as  not  knowing  wherein.  But  the  Judge  shows 
them,  that  the  neglect,  the  cold  indiiference,  or  cruelty,  which  they 
had  shown  to  his  people  was  shown  to  him.  "  Then  he  answered  them 
saying.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the 
least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to  me.  And  these  [who  had  not  done 
righteousness^  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment :  but  the 
righteous  [who  had  done  righteousness]  into  life  eternal."  And  these 
things  are  written  for  our  edification,  that  we  may  have  no  want  of 
information  and  evidence,  on  what  principle  our  acceptance  with  God 
is  finally  to  stand. 

Therefore,  however  indispensable  faith  is  to  our  acceptance  with 
God,  and  being  initiated  into  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  in  whom  alone  per- 
fect justification  is  found,  it  is  evident  that  faith  cannot  justify  a  single 
whit  farther  than  it  is  accompanied  by  works  :  it  is  the  obedience  of 
faith,  or  a  faithful  obedience,  by  which  a  man's  acceptance  or  safe 
standing  in  the  sight  of  God  is  secured  from  first  to  last ;  for  "  he 
that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous  even  as  he  is  righteous,"  and  "  in 
every  nation,  he  that  feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  ac- 
cepted of  him."  "  But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him." 
Why  .^  Because  without  the  belief  that  God  will  accept  the  man  who 
seeketh  him  he  will  not  seek,  without  the  belief  that  God  will  accept 
him  in  the  performance  of  his  duty,  there  is  no  encouragement  to  per- 
form :  "  For  he  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that 
he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him."  (Heb.  xi.  6.) 
Again  ;  "  It  is  impossible  to  please  God  without  faith,  because  to  dis- 
credit God  is  to  blaspheme  his  name  ;"  "  He  that  believeth  not  God 
hath  made  him  a  liar  :"  This  is  off'ensive  to  God,  and  leaves  the  man 
tinder  sensible  guilt,  by  which  his  soul  is  separated  from  God.  The 
principle   therefore,  on  which  faith  justifies  is  its  being  an  act  of  obe- 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  155 

dience  and  subjection,  and  its  being  introductory  to  otber  acts  of  the 
same  kind.  Accordingly,  altbougli  faitli  is  so  often  mentioned  as  the 
mean  by  wbich  men  close  in  witb  Christ  as  offered  in  the  Gospel,  and 
are  introduced  into  the  way  of  life,  and  indeed  supported  all  along, 
being  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation,  yet  every 
man's  character  and  final  reward  is  decided  by  his  works,  according 
to  what  he  has  done,  and  not  according  to  what  he  has  believed ; 
"  For  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ ;  that 
every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  the  body,  according  to  that 
he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad."   (2  Cor.  v.  10.) 

Another  consideration  of  great  and  serious  importance  presents 
itself ;  that  every  man  will  just  get  as  much  reward,  or  as  much  salva- 
tion as  he  gains  by  his  obedience  to  the  Gospel  of  God,  and  no  more. 
Many  are  built  up  with  an  expectation,  that  although  they  live  in  sin 
all  their  days  and  do  nothing  truly  acceptable  with  God,  nothing  that 
he  will  own  as  being  fit  to  stand,  and  though  they  never  know  any- 
thing savingly  of  Christ  until  about  their  dying  day,  they  may  be  saved, 
and  be  as  bright  in  the  kingdom  of  God  as  any  ;  for  Jesus  Christ  will 
answer  for  all  their  deficiencies  and  their  wrongs.  But  where  do  the 
words  of  revelation  say  that  Christ  will  answer  to  God  for  the  people  ? 
Christ  will  no  doubt  confess  them  that  confess  him  ;  but  they  do  not 
confess  him  who  do  wickedly  ;  they  may  profess  that  they  know  God, 
but  in  works  deny  him.  And  as  for  those  who  commit  iniquity  he  has 
in  plain  terms  declared  that  he  will  utterly  disown  them,  no  matter 
what  their  profession  or  works  may  otherwise  have  been.  "  Many 
will  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy 
name  ?  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out  devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  done 
many  wonderful  works  .?  And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never 
knew  you :  depart  from  me  ye  that  work  iniquity."  "  But  those  mine 
enemies  who  would  not  that  I  should  reign  over  them,  bring  hither, 
and  slay  them  before  me."  (Matt.  vii.  22,  23  ;  Luke  xix.  27.)  These 
sayings  show  us  how  he  will  answer  for  those  whose  works  are  not  in 
uprightness  and  obedience.  But  the  Scripture  is  also  express  enough, 
that  every  one  will  have  to  answer  for  himself.  "  So  then,  every  one 
of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God."  (Rom.  xiv.  12.)  Those, 
therefore,  who  expect  that  Christ  will  confess  them  and  answer  for 
them  and  make  good  their  character,  while  they  are  not  doing  the 
things  which  are  answerable  to  the  character  of  Christ,  walking  worthy 
of  the  vocation  wherewith  they  are  called,  may  surely  lay  their  ac- 
counts to  meet  with  a  grievous  disappointment. 

For  not  only  the  character  and  reward  of  every  man  will,  in  the 
classification  among  the  righteous  or  wicked,  be  according  to  his  works, 
but  every  degree  of  honour  and  glory  in  the  righteous,  or  of  death  and 
the  curse  in  the  wicked,  will  be  according  to  the  works  of  each.  "A 
good  man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  his  heart,  bringeth  forth  good 
things  :  and  an  evil  man  out  of  the  evil  treasure,  bringeth  forth  evil 
things.  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall  speak 
they  shall  give  an  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment."  "  Woe 
unto  you,  scribes  and  pharisees,  hypocrites ;  for  ye  devour  widows' 
houses,  and  for  a  pretence  make  long  prayer :  therefore  ye  shall  re- 
ceive the  greater  damnation."  (Matt.  xii.  35,  36,  and  xxiii.  14.)  But 
on  the  other  hand  everything  done  and  suffered  by  the  righteous  accord- 


156  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

ing  to  the  will  of  God,  and  for  the  Gospel  and  name  of  Clirist,  shall  stand 
in  full  account  to  them  in  their  crown  of  righteousness  and  glory.  "  He 
that  receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet,  shall  receive  a  pro- 
phet's reward  ;  and  he  that  receiveth  a  righteous  man  in  the  name  of  a 
righteous  man,  shall  receive  a  righteous  man's  reward.  And  whosoever 
shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  these  little  ones  a  cup  of  cold  water 
only  in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in  no 
wise  lose  his  reward."  "For  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your 
work  of  labour  and  love,  which  ye  have  showed  toward  his  name,  in 
that  ye  have  ministered  to  the  saints,  and  do  minister."  "For  this 
is  thank-worthy,  if  a  man,  for  conscience  toward  God,  endure  grief, 
suffering  wrongfully.  For  what  glory  is  it,  if  when  ye  be  buffeted  for 
your  faults  ye  shall  take  it  patiently  .''  but  if,  when  ye  do  well,  and 
suffer  for  it,  ye  take  it  patiently,  this  is  acceptable  with  God.  For 
even  hereunto  were  ye  called  :  because  Christ  also  suffered  for  us, 
leaving  us  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps."  "But,  and 
if  ye  suffer  for  righteousness'  sake,  happy  are  ye."  (Matt.  x.  41  42  ; 
Heb.  vi.  10;  1  Pet.  ii.  19,  20,  21,  and  iii.  14.)  But  such  is  the 
superior  excellence  of  that  gracious  reward,  which  has  respect  to  our 
union  and  communion  with  God  in  eternal  life,  that  all  we  can  do  and 
suffer  in  the  cause  has  no  comparison  or  equality  with  it  in  that 
respect.  "For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are 
not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  in 
us."  "For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh 
for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory ;  while  we 
look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not 
seen  ;  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  are  eternal."  (Rom.  viii.  18  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  17,  18.) 
But  finally  here.  This  is  the  testimony  which  we  have  of  Christ 
Jesus,  that  "being  made  perfect  he  became  the  author  of  eternal  sal- 
vation to  all  them  that  obey  him."  (Heb.  v.  9.)  Obedience,  there- 
fore, as  properly  expresses  the  character  of  a  Christian  as  believing. 
The  same  also  is  fairly  inferred  from  disobedience,  as  being  the 
proj)er  characteristic  of  the  wicked.  Accordingly  Christ  is  declared, 
as  "  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey  not 
the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  And  again:  "What  shall 
the  end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  God  .'"  (2  Thess.  i. 
8  ;  1  Pet.  iv.  17.)  And  the  wicked  are  in  different  places  called  the 
children  of  disobedience,  and  the  wrath  of  God  is  said  to  come  on 
them  for  wicked  actions.  "  Let  no  man  deceive  you  with  vain  words  : 
for  because  of  these  things  cometh  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the  children 
of  disobedience."  (Eph.  v.  6.)  And  by  the  obedience  of  faith,  even 
that  faith  which  is  in  Christ,  leading  to  obedience,  we  may  in  the 
freedom  of  God's  righteous  love,  escape  the  wrath  of  God  and  inherit 
eternal  life  in  him,  "who  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his 
deeds  :  to  them  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek  for 
glory  and  honour,  and  immortality,  eternal  life.  But  to  them  that 
are  contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness, 
indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish,  upon  every  soul  of 
man  that  doeth  evil ;  of  the  Jew  first,  and  also  of  the  Gentile  :  but 
glory,  honour  and  peace,  to  every  man  that  worketh  good  ;  to  the 
Jew  first  and  also  to  the  Gentile  :   for  there  is  no  respect  of  persons 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  157 

with  God."  "Now,  to  him  that  is  of  power  to  establish  you  accord- 
ing to  my  Gospel  and  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  (according  to 
the  revelation  of  the  mystery,  which  was  kept  secret  since  the  world 
began,  but  now  is  made  manifest,  and  by  the  Scriptures  of  the 
prophets,  according  to  the  commandment  of  the  everlasting  God, 
made  known  to  all  nations  for  the  obedience  of  faith,)  to  God  only 
wise,  be  glory  through  Jesus  Christ  for  ever.  Amen."  (Rom.  ii. 
6-1],  and  xvi.  25,  26,  27.) 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  ELECTION,  AND  THE  FOREKNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 

The  sentiments  which  many  professors  entertain,  relative  to  the 
doctrine  of  Election,  furnish  a  serious  objection  against  the  foregoing 
doctrines,  of  the  unlimited  privilege  of  all  men  who  hear  the  Gospel 
to  believe  on  its  own  evidence,  and  of  justification  by  the  obedience 
of  faith.  And  to  minister  all  the  satisfaction  possible  on  this  subject, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  investigate  this  doctrine  with  freedom  ;  and 
the  more  so,  because  in  it  will  be  comprised  the  burden  of  what  is  to 
be  said  on  the  decrees  of  God,  what  has  been  said  heretofore  being 
calculated  to  prepare  the  way,  as  being  intimately  connected  with  the 
main  subject.  For  the  decrees  of  God  are  considered  as  having  a 
very  special  relation  to  the  elect,  who  are  finally  to  compose  the 
Church  of  God  in  its  happy  and  glorified  state,  in  whom  the  decrees 
are  to  receive  their  special  and  final  accomplishment. 

And  here  let  us  inquire  ;  Who  are  the  Elect  ?  and  what  is  their 
character  .'  A  twofold  answer  will  be  requisite  to  afi'ord  full  satis- 
faction on  this  subject.     And,  in  the  first  place  ; 

The  elect  of  God  are  they  who  worship  him  in  the  spirit,  calling 
upon  him  day  and  night.  "  But  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when 
the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth  : 
for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  him."  (Jno.  iv.  23.)  And  if 
the  Father  seeketh  such,  no  doubt  but  these  are  his  elect,  whom  he 
chooseth  out  from  among  others,  even  as  they  are  expressly  called 
his  elect  who  call  on  him  day  and  night,  saying  :  "  And  shall  not 
God  avenge  his  own  elect,  who  cry  day  and  night  unto  him  .?"  (Luke 
xviii.  7.)  These,  therefore,  are  the  elect  of  God  who  are  honestly 
devoted  to  his  service,  and  have,  for  that  purpose,  come  out  from  the 
rest  of  the  world,  and  separated  themselves  from  those  who  live  in 
iniquity  and  defilement,  as  it  is  again  written:  "Wherefore,  come 
out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch 
not  the  unclean  thing  ;  and  I  will  receive  you,  and  will  be  a  Father 
to  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Al- 
mighty." (2  Cor.  vi.  17,  18.)  These  things  show  plainly  enough 
who  are  the  elect  of  God,  and  what  is  their  character.     They  are  such 


158  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

as  live  not  as  the  world  live,  according  to  tlie  course  of  this  world,  and 
are  not  of  the  world,  but  have  come  out  from  among  them  ;  accord- 
ing to  what  was  said  of  old  time  :  "Lo,  the  people  shall  dwell  alone, 
and  shall  not  be  reckoned  among  the  nations."  (Num.  xxiii.  9.) 
And  as  Jesus  himself  also  said  :  "  If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world 
would  love  his  own :  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have 
chosen  you  out  of  the  world,  therefore  the  world  hateth  you."  (Jno. 
XV.  19.)  From  this  view  of  these  pointed  testimonies  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, it  is  easy  to  see,  that  none  are  to  be  accounted  God's  elect 
while  living  in  the  practice  of  sin  ;  none  but  those  who  deny  them- 
selves and  take  up  their  cross  and  follow  Christ,  denying  all  ungodli- 
ness and  worldly  lusts,  and  living  soberly,  righteously,  and  piously,  in 
this  present  world,  while  in  it ;  and  that  as  fast  as  any  will  thus  deny 
themselves  and  take  up  their  cross,  God  will  own  them  as  being  of 
the  number  of  his  elect. 

But  it  is  asserted,  that  God's  election  is  made  unconditional  and 
eternal,  "  without  any  foresight  of  faith,_or  good  works,  or  perseve- 
rance in  either  of  them,  or  any  other  good  thing  in  the  creature, 
as  conditions,  moving  him  thereto."  But  as  the  Scriptures  speak 
so  pointedly  of  God's  elect  as  being  "  elect  according  to  the  fore- 
knowledge of  God  the  Father,"  and  of  God,  as  predestinating  those 
whom  he  foreknew,  we  shall  not  hesitate  to  conclude  that  he  saw  in 
them  all  something  worthy  of  his  choice,  previously  to  his  making  it, 
whether  we  say  from  everlasting  or  after  that  excellence  takes  place. 
And  as  for  the  intimation  often  given,  that  it  argues  weakness  in 
God  to  suppose  that  he  has  any  respect  to  the  character  or  works  of 
men  in  his  purposes  concerning  them  and  his  appointing  of  them  to 
happiness  or  misery,  as  making  his  purposes  and  works  depend  more 
orless  on  the  creature,  none  need  be  burdenedwith  it,  as  long  as  it  stands 
written  that  in  every  nation^  he  that  feareih  him  and  ivorketh  righteous- 
ness is  accepted  of  him.  It  reflects  no  dishonour  on  God  to  say  that 
his  acceptance  of  men  now,  as  well  as  his  final  judgment  and  awards, 
rest  on  the  character  and  works  of  each  individual,  for  it  is  true  that 
he  judgeth  every  man  according  to  his  works.  It  argues  no  weakness 
in  God  to  do  justice.  God  is  under  no  obligation,  in  his  own  nature, 
or  from  any  other  law,  to  do  every  thing  which  he  has  positive  or  in- 
herent power  to  do.  This  position  can  no  man,  with  any  consistency 
or  plausibility,  deny ;  neither  does  this  argue  any  weakness  in  him. 
But  he  is  invariably  fixed  in  all  his  purposes  and  works,  not  to  say, 
bound  by  his  own  nature,  to  do  in  all  things,  that  which  is  just,  even 
to  the  meanest  creature.  And  to  fix  any  man's  final  state  without 
respect  to  his  personal  character  or  works,  can  never  be  reconciled 
with  justice.  "  And  that  the  righteous  should  be  as  the  wicked,  that 
be  far  from  thee.  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  .'*" 
(Gen.  xviii.  25.)  It  argues  no  weakness  in  God,  it  reflects  no  dis- 
honour on  his  charcter  to  have  created  and  to  govern  a  race  of  con- 
scious beings,  and  accountable  to  him  as  free  agents,  and  then  to 
award  them,  each  one  according  to  his  works,  after  giving  them  fair 
warning,  as  he  has  done. 

But  for  the  sake  of  chasing  the  darkness  out  of  every  secret  cor- 
ner, the  silencing  argument,  that  God  appoints  men  to  life  or  to 
wrath  without  respect  to  their  works,  is  proposed,  That  with  God  is 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  159 

no  succession  of  time,  consequently  no  foreknowledge,  because  times 
past,  present  and  to  come,  are  all  present  with  him  ;  therefore  when 
he  appoints  or  elects  men  to  eternal  life,  from  everlasting,  it  is  not 
done  according  to  his  foreknowledge  of  their  faith  or  good  works,  for 
they  are  all  present  to  his  view  ;  or  when  he  passes  by,  or  appoints 
to  wrath,  it  is  not  according  to  his  foreknowledge  of  their  unbelief  or 
disobedience,  for  these  also  are  all  present  to  his  view,  with  all  their 
characters.  This  argument  is  indeed  weak  enough  towards  the  de- 
fence of  that  point,  as  it  implicitly,  though  eifectually,  confirms  the 
contrary,  that  the  reward  of  eternal  life  or  death,  and  consequently, 
the  justification  of  individuals  now,  rests  on  their  works. 

But  the  impossibility  of  justifying  the  principle  of  decreeing  some 
men  to  eternal  life  and  others  to  eternal  death,  without  respect  to 
their  personal  characters  and  works,  leads  those  who  believe  it,  or 
affect  so  to  believe,  to  use  weak  and  unreasonable  measures.  The 
above  argument  of  no  foreknowledge  in  God,  has  been  used  with 
greater  propriety  on  the  other  side  of  the  question,  to  show  that,  ad- 
mitting the  state  of  all  men  to  be  fixed  in  the  mind  of  God,  even  be- 
fore their  existence,  that  state  is  fixed  by  the  just  judgment  of  God 
according  to  their  personal  character  and  works,  God  having  all  these 
before  him  as  the  foundation  of  his  judgment.  And  this  view  of  the 
matter  is  infinitely  preferable  to  that  which  supposes  God  to  have 
from  eternity  fixed  the  state  of  all  men,  without  respect  to  their 
works,  as  it  exonerates  the  character  of  God  from  the  charge  of  ar- 
bitrarily appointing  some  men  to  life  and  excluding  others,  and  so  or- 
daining them  to  wrath,  without  any  possible  opportunity  of  doing 
justice  to  God  by  obeying,  or  to  themselves  by  laying  hold  on  eter- 
nal life  ;  God  acting,  in  all  these  things,  according  to  what  men  call 
his  sovereign  will,  an  attribute  unknown  to  God.  We  read  of  the 
purposes  of  him  (of  God  no  doubt)  who  worketh  all  things  according  to 
the  counsel  of  his  own  will ;  but  counsel,  in  a  wise  being,  implies  ra- 
tional deliberation  and  a  reasonable  conclusion.  But  to  say  there  is 
no  foreknowledge  in  God,  is  improper.  It  is  contrary  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  represents  God  as  an  inconsistent  being,  always  consulting 
and  purposing  to  do  things  which  are  already  done,  or  in  the  state  of 
doing.  For  if  no  futurity,  because  no  succession,  then  no  anteriority ; 
God  is  therefore  represented  as  now,  and  for  ever  to  remain,  consult- 
ing and  purposing  to  create  this  world  and  all  others,  to  create  man 
and  all  other  works  which  are  already  done. 

But  in  the  second  place.  It  is  not  unreasonable,  neither  is  it  un- 
scriptural,  that  God  hath  an  election  of  certain  individuals  to  fill 
certain  lots  or  places,  to  execute  certain  labours  in  carrying  on  the 
work  of  redemption  for  the  whole.  Every  duty  or  work  necessary  for 
the  edification  of  the  whole,  must  be  done  by  some  one  or  more  • 
and  every  man  is  not  capable  of  filling  every  place.  It  is  therefore 
no  injury,  but  a  real  advantage  to  the  whole,  that  God  should  select 
and  furnish  with  suitable  commissions  and  gifts  to  lead  the  way  and  be 
helpers  of  the  faith  of  others,  those  who  are  capable  of  performing 
such  duties.  These  are  often  called  to  bear  many  burdens  and  to 
endure  many  sufi'eiings,  or  to  perform  duties  of  which  the  physical 
powers  of  mind,  according  to  natural  creation,  render  others  incapa- 
ble.    Aijd  whatever  privilege  such  may  be  supposed  to  have,  in 


160  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

beino-  chosen  to  sucli  duties,  their  election  and  calling  cannot  at  all 
be  any  hindrance  to  the  free  access  of  others  to  the  same  salvation, 
or  to  their  receiving  a  full  reward  according  to  the  utmost  of  their 
obedience  of  faith  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  these  are  necessary  to  pro- 
mote the  good  of  the  whole,  and  without  them  the  Church  could  not 
be  built  up  in  Gospel  order.  "  And  he  gave  some,  [that  is,  some  of 
those  whom  he  gave  were,]  apostles  ;  and  some,  prophets  ;  and  some, 
pastors  and  teachers ;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ,  till  we  all  come 
in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 
unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of 
Christ." 

Should  God  therefore  send  a  special  message  or  angel  to  these  to 
waken  them  up  and  prepare  their  minds  for  the  Gospel,  and  so  pre- 
pare the  way  for  its  introduction  to  any  land  or  people,  who  are  com- 
ing to  a  readiness  for  its  reception ;  this  could  be  no  injustice  to  the 
rest,  but  a  real  privilege  ;  for  the  light  which  they  would  receive,  they 
would  unfold  to  others  as  being  free  to  all :  Freely  ye  have  received^ 
freely  give.  When  the  Gospel  is  to  be  introduced  among  any  people 
who  are  in  readiness  for  it,  that  introduction  must  be  effected  through 
some  means ;  there  must  be  an  instrument  or  more  to  bring  it  in,  and 
room  in  the  heart  of  some  to  receive  it,  a  sanctuary  where  the  testi- 
mony might  rest,  until  borne  to  all,  a  people  made  ready  and  pre- 
pared for  the  Lord  ;  as  the  few  who  first  believed  at  Ephesus  were  a 
sanctuary  to  the  Gospel  testimony,  while  Paul  disputed  for  two  years 
in  the  school  of  Tyrannus,  until  all  they  of  Asia  heard  the  word  of 
the  Lord  Jesus.  (Acts  xix.  10.)  It  is  not  expected  for  a  nation  to  be 
born  at  once.  If  God  therefore  should  send  a  special  message  of  the 
Gospel  to  those  who  are  the  most  likely  to  receive  it,  and  give  it  room, 
among  a  people  prepared  for  it;  that  could  be  no  injury  to  the  rest, 
neither  could  it  at  all  stand  in  competition  with  their  salvation,  but  on 
the  contrary  tend  to  promote  it  by  establishing  the  Gospel  among 
them,  "  For  therein  is  the  righteousness  of  God  revealed  from  faith 
to  faith."  (Rom.  i.  17.) 

But  in  all  these  things  there  is  nothing  to  contradict  that  God 
.should  have  respect  to  qualifications,  natural  and  moral,  to  the  cha- 
racter and  works  of  those  whom  he  thus  elects,  making  choice  of  those 
who  are  best  calculated  to  be  of  use  to  others  while  they  secure  their 
own  salvation.  And  who  can  say  there  is  any  weakness  or  dishonour 
attached  to  God,  by  supposing  that  he  fixes  on  the  most  capable  in- 
struments to  perform  so  important  a  work,  as  leading  the  way  in  the 
Gospel,  and  bearing  it  to  others  .''  It  would  seem  by  the  sentiments 
of  some,  that  reasonable  dealings  in  God  towards  his  creatures  would 
be  a  disgrace. 

But  to  constitute  a  real  subject  of  the  kingdom  of  grace  and  of 
glory,  it  is  necessary  to  be  called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful.  Not  all 
the  called  and  chosen  are  found  faithful  on  trial.  "  Have  not  I 
chosen  you  twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil !"  (Jno.  vi.  70.)  In  like 
manner  many  who  have  been  called,  and  chosen,  and  prepared,  with 
great  light  and  power,  have  tasted  of  the  good  word  of  God,  and  of 
the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,  in  the  preparatory  work  of  the  Gos- 
pel, in  Kentucky  and  the  adjacent  States,  and  some  of  them  public 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  Ibl 

teacters  and  leaders  of  the  people,  wlio  were  called  to  stand  as  door- 
keepers to  open  to  the  true  shepherd,  on  trial  proved  unfaithful,  hav- 
ing stumbled  at  the  cross,  under  which  the  shepherd  appeared. 

Further  :  it  was  necessary  that  a  proper  train  should  be  laid,  and 
the  way  prepared  for  the  introduction  of  the  Gospel  into  the  world 
at  the  first,  against  the  fullness  of  time  should  come  ;  it  was  neces- 
sary that  the  name  and  worship  of  the  true  God  should  be  preserved 
on  the  earth,  among  a  people  to  whom  promises  should  be  made  and 
proper  testimony  deposited  with  them,  of  the  work  which  God  was 
about  to  do,  to  be  a  witness  of  its  truth  when  it  should  appear,  accord- 
ing to  the  times  and  seasons  before  appointed  and  foretold;  that  men 
might  believe  on  rational  principles  which  they  could  also  present  to 
others  for  their  conviction  ;  principles  established  by  their  duration, 
their  continued  testimony,  and  their  fulfillment,  as  well  as  the  evidence 
which  should  attend  the  work  when  it  should  appear.  For  this  pur- 
pose God  chose  Abraham  to  be  the  father  of  the  faithful ;  that  in 
him  and  in  his  seed  through  Isaac  all  nations  might  be  blessed  ;  as  it 
is  written  :  "  And  in  thee  shall  all  nations  be  blessed."  And  again  : 
"  For  in  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called."  (Gen.  xii.  3,  and  xxi.  12.) 
These  are  they,  "  who  are  Israelites  ;  to  whom  pertain  the  adop- 
tion, and  the  glory,  and  the  covenants,  and  the  givings  of  the  law,  and 
the  service  of  God,  and  the  promises  ;  whose  are  the  fathers,  and  of 
whom,  as  concerning  the  flesh,  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all,  God 
blessed  for  ever.  Amen."  Thus  the  calling  of  Abraham  and  blessing 
him,  furnished  a  people  to  preserve  the  name  and  worship  of  the  true 
God,  and  also  to  be  a  figure  of  the  work  of  the  Gospel  when  it  should 
appear.  "  For  they  are  not  all  Israel  who  are  of  Israel,  but  the 
children  of  the  promise  are  counted  for  the  seed."  "  And  if  ye  be 
Christ's  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the  pro- 
mise."    (Rom.  ix.  4,  5,  6,  8;  Gal.  iii.  29.) 

These  things  being  so,  were  a  great  advantage  to  the  Jews  who 
were  the  seed  of  Abraham  according  to  the  flesh,  because  they  had 
the  writings  of  Moses,  and  the  other  oracles  of  God  to  be  to  them 
a  witness  of  the  character  of  Christ  when  he  appeared.  "  What  ad- 
vantage then  hath  the  Jew  ?  or  what  profit  is  there  of  circumci- 
sion .''  Much  every  way  ;  chiefly,  because  to  them  were  committed 
the  oracles  of  God.  For  what  if  some  did  not  believe  }  shall  their 
unbelief  make  the  faith  of  God  without  effect.?  God  forbid."  (Rom. 
iii.  1,  2.)  By  this  arrangement  of  things,  the  Jews  were  prepared  to 
stand  as  the  first  living  temple  of  God,  in  whom  his  Christ  should  ap- 
pear and  find  a  habitation,  the  first  deposit  of  the  treasures  of  the 
Gospel  of  salvation  among  men.  Accordingly  the  Gospel  is  called 
the  power  of  God  to  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth,  but  to  the 
Jew  first. 

But  this  first  benefit  to  the  Jew  is  no  disadvantage  to  the  Gentile  ; 
for  the  same  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  to  every  one 
who  believeth  ;  To  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Gentile.  And  the 
special  election  and  calling  of  Abraham  and  his  family  from  among 
the  nations  who  were  all  lost  in  idolatry,  were  no  injury  to  any  indi- 
vidual among  them,  but  on  the  contrary  prepared  the  way  for  the 
greatest  blessings.  For  in  thee  shall  all  the  foijiilies  of  the  earth  he 
blessed.  This  election,  therefore,  of  Abraham  is  not  partial  to  the 
12 


162  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE, 

exclusion  of  any  one,  Jew  or  Gentile,  from  eternal  life  ;  and  the  pass- 
ing hj  of  any  other  man  or  men,  or  not  choosing  them  into  the  lot 
into  which  Abraham  was  called,  can  by  no  means  intercept  their  free 
access  to  eternal  life  in  Christ,  as  being  of  Abraham's  family  ;  "^For 
they  who  are  of  faith  are  blessed  with  faithful  Abraham."  (Gal.  iii. 
9.)  This  is  that  Abraham  whom  God  foreknew,  as  he  saith,  "For 
I  know  him,  that  he  will  command  his  children  and  his  household 
after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord."  (Gen.  xviii.  19.) 
Thus  God  found  Abraham  a  man  according  to  his  mind. 

Now  when  Christ  had  appeared  and  the  Gospel  began  to  be  preach- 
ed, if  God,  according  to  the  purpose  of  his  grace  whic  he  purposed 
in  Christ,  and  according  to  the  plan  and  order  provided,  called  and 
chose  Paul  whom  he  had  separated  from  his  mother's  womb  for  that 
purpose,  and  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  together  with  the  great  number 
of  Jews  who  at  first  believed,  having  predestinated  them  to  the  adop- 
tion of  sons,  whom  he  foreknew  ;  this  election  and  calling  did  not 
imply  the  rejection  of  any  others,  or  that  any  others  should  not  enjoy 
the  same  privilege  of  being  called  and  predestinated  to  eternal  life 
with  them,  but  actually  prepared  the  way  for  it ;  "That,  in  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  fullness  of  times,  he  might  gather  together  in  one, 
all  things  in  Christ,  both  which  are  in  heaven  and  which  are  on  earth, 
even  in  him  ;  [as  fast  as  intelligent  beings  submit  to  the  faith  of 
Christ,  all  things  become  subjected  to  that  order  ;]  in  whom  also  we 
have  obtained  an  inheritance,  being  predestinated  according  to  the 
purpose  of  him  who  worketh  all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his 
own  will ;  that  we  should  be  to  the  praise  of  his  glory,  who  first  trusted 
in  Christ ;  i7i  ivhom  ye  also  trusled,  after  thai  ye  heard  the  word  of  truth, 
the  Gospel  of  your  salvation  ;  in  whom  also,  after  that  ye  believed,  ye 
were  sealed  with  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  the  earnest  of 
our  inheritance,  until  the  redemption  of  the  purchased  possession,  to 
the  praise  of  his  glory."  (Eph.  i.  10-14.)  To  carry  the  matter 
farther  yet ;  Christ  is  the  first  elect  of  God  :  "  Behold  my  servant 
whom  I  uphold!  Mine  elect,  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth."  (Isa. 
xlii.  1.)  He  was  the  elect  of  God  when  there  were  none  besides  him. 
But  shall  this  election  be  to  the  rejection  of  any  who  believe  in  him, 
or  put  their  trust  in  God  as  he  did  ?  Not  one.  But  on  the  con- 
trary ;  God  in  choosing  and  laying  this  foundation,  has  made  full 
provision  for  the  eternal  life  of  all  who  will  put  their  trust  in  him, 
"  For  he  that  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  ashamed."  (Rom.  ix.  33.) 
After  Christ  came  his  apostles,  whom  he  chose,  as  he  said,  "  Ye  have 
not  chosen  me,  but  I  laave  chosen  you,  and  ordained  you,  that  ye 
should  go  and  bring  forth  fruit."  Next  come  those  who  should 
believe  through  their  ministry  ;  "  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but 
for  them  also  who  shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word."  (Jno.  xv. 
16,  and  xvii.  20.)  Thus  in  the  order  of  God's  elect,  from  the  man 
Christ  Jesus  to  all  that  follow  him,  there  is  provision  made  for  others 
to  inherit  the  same  salvation,  and  be  united  in  the  same  spirit  as  long 
as  one  soul  can  be  found  that  is  willing  to  be  saved. 

These  statements  may  be  satisfying  to  the  candid  and  unbiassed, 
what  is  the  true  intention  of  God's  election.  But  as  many  believe, 
or  affect  to  believe,  that  God  has  elected  and  ordained  a  certain 
number  of  the  human  race,  who  are  individually  specified  in  said 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  163 

election,  to  eternal  life,  and  that  these,  and  these  only,  will  certainly 
be  saved,  and  the  rest  consequently  and  inevitably  left  and  ordained 
to  destruction  and  wrath,  without  respect  to  character  or  works  on 
either  side,  as  the  cau:se  of  such  ordination,  remote  or  proximate, 
and  as  many  Scriptures  are  adduced  in  support  of  this  opinion,  we 
shall  consider  the  most  conspicuous  of  them  in  order,  as  far  as  shall 
appear  to  be  for  edification  and  consistent  with  the  limits  of  the 
present  work. 

Several  chapters  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  are  viewed  as  con- 
taining silencing  arguments  to  that  effect ;  among  which  are  the  fol- 
lowing words  :  "And  we  know  that  all  things  shall  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God,  to  them  who  are  the  called  according 
to  his  purpose.  For  whom  he  did  foreknow  he  also  did  predestinate 
to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son,  that  he  might  be  the  first- 
born among  many  brethren.  Moreover  whom  he  did  predestinate, 
them  he  also  called  ;  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified  ; 
and  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified."  (viii.  29,  30.)  In 
this  place  the  Apostle,  as  every  unbiassed  mind  sees,  according  to 
the  plain  order  of  the  words,  hath  built  the  whole  on  the  foreknow- 
ledge of  God  ;  Whom  he  did  foreknow  he  also  did  predestinate  to  be 
conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son  :  thus  in  God's  foreknowledcfe. 
And  whatever  may  be  disputed  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  word  pre- 
destinate,  in  that  use  of  it,  the  Apostle,  with  all  his  learning,  and  in 
the  gift  and  inspiration  of  the  Spirit,  has  so  used  it :  And  there  is  no 
more  impropriety  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  than  for  a  man  going 
to  build  a  house,  to  look  out  suitable  timber  and  mark  it  before- 
hand :  he  has  thus  predestinated  that  timber.  Thus  God  predesti- 
nated to  eternal  life  in  Christ  Jesus  all  who  believe  in  him  and  obey 
him  ;  and  for  the  effecting  of  this  purpose,  and  calling  all  who  will 
come,  he  predestinated  a  people  to  answer  this  purpose,  in  the  first 
entrance  of  the  Gospel,  that  he  might  gather  together  in  one  all 
things  in  Christ ;  as  before  shown.  And  in  like  manner  he  has  pre- 
destinated a  people  in  every  part  under  heaven,  to  give  the  Gospel  a 
full  and  free  exhibition  to  all,  wherever  it  comes.  These  are  in  the 
first  place  the  elect  of  God,  and  in  the  next  place  all  who  call  on  him 
and  obey  him,  as  before  described. 

But  granting  that  these  are  predestinated  without  any  respect  to 
their  character  or  works,  and  as  exclusively  from  all  foreknowledge 
as  any  consistent  hypothesis  can  admit,  as  in  the  epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,  where  nothing  is  said  of  foreknowledge,  the  Apostle  is  express 
in  the  purpose  of  their  predestination,  one  part  of  which  is  to  gather 
others  into  Christ  with  them,  that  all  might  be  one  in  Christ  as  their 
head  :  "  That  in  the  dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  times  he  might 
concentrate  or  gather  into  one  head  in  Christ  all  things  which  are  in 
heaven  and  which  are  on  earth."  [i.  10.)  These  Scriptures,  there- 
fore, afford  no  proof  that  any  soul  is  reprobated  by  God's  predestina- 
tion or  decrees,  so  as  to  be  excluded  from  salvation,  or  finally  passed 
by,  who  doth  not  exclude  himself,  by  voluntarily  rejecting  that  Gospel 
which  is  as  accessible  by  him  as  any  other. 

A  little  farther  on,  (Rom.  ix.  9,  &c.)  the  Apostle  shows  that  the 
elect  are  limited  to  Isaac  and  then  to  Jacob.  "  For  this  is  the  word 
of  promise,  At  this  time  will  I  come,  and  Sarah  shall  have  a  son.     And 


164  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

not  only  this,  but  wlien  Rebecca  bad  conceiyed  by  one,  even  by  0T2r 
father  Isaac,  (for  the  children  being  not  yet  born,  neither  having 
done  any  good  or  evil,  that  the  purpose  of  God  according  to  election 
might  stand,  not  of  works,  but  of  him  that  calleth,)  it  was  said  unto 
her.  The  elder  shall  serve  the  younger.  As  it  is  written,  Jacob  have 
I  loved,  but  Esau  have  I  hated."  These  words  are  esteemed  an  in- 
controvertible proof  that  God  hath  unchangeably  predestinated,  or 
elected,  every  man  to  eternal  life,  or  eternal  death,  without  any  pre- 
vious respect  to  his  character.  "  For,  doth  not  the  Scripture  say,  the 
children  being  not  yet  born,  neither  having  done  any  good  or  evil,  that 
the  purpose  of  God  according  to  election  might  stsnad,  not  of  icorks, 
[see  how  works  have  no  part  in  the  business,]  but  of  him  that  calleth, 
[just  by  the  sovereign  will  and  appointment  of  God,]  it  was  said  to 
her."  And  what  was  said.?  "  The  elder  shall  serve  the  younger." 
And  because  the  elder,  Esau,  should  serve  the  younger,  Jacob,  is  that 
to  prove  that  the  person  or  soul  of  Esau,  is  by  that  election  of  God, 
without  respect  to  his  actions,  as  having  done  neither  good  nor  evil, 
unalterably  set  off  for  eternal  damnation  .'  Or  did  Esau  in  person 
ever  serve  Jacob .''  Never  ;  not  a  hint  of  any  such  thing  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  two  men,  but  quite  the  reverse.  The  subject  then  must 
inevitably  relate  to  something  else  J  and  the  saying,  Jacob  have  Ilovedj 
but  Esau  have  I  hated^  relates  to  something  very  different  from  the 
persons  of  these  two  men,  of  which  they  are  but  the  figure. 

Now  it  is  proved  above,  that  the  seed  of  the  promise,  or  the  true 
elect,  are  not  found  in  the  family  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  after 
the  flesh,  or  in  their  natural  line,  even  though  Christ  as  pertaining  to 
the  flesh  came  of  that  family.  "  For  they  are  not  all  Israel  who  are 
of  Israel :  neither  because  they  are  the  seed  of  Abraham,  are  they  all 
children :  but,  in  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called.  That  is,  They  who 
are  the  children  of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  children  of  God :  but 
the  children  of  the  promise  are  counted  for  the  seed."  So  that 
Abraham's  natural  seed  are  not,  on  that  account,  of  the  elect  or  seed 
of  the  promise,  although  he  was  one  whom  God  chose  and  called  in 
an  especial  manner  and  appointed  him  the  father  of  the  faithful.  "As 
it  is  written,  I  have  made  thee  a  father  of  many  nations."  (Rom.  iv. 
17.)  "  For  this  is  the  word  of  promise.  At  this  time  will  I  come,  and 
Sarah  shall  have  a  son."  [So  that  even  Abraham's  seed  separately 
from  Isaac  were  not  to  inherit  with  Isaac,]  "  And  not  only  this,  but 
when  Rebecca  also  had  conceived  by  one,  even  by  our  father  Isaac, 
it  was  said  unto  her,  the  elder  shall  serve  the  younger."  Thus  a  part 
of  the  seed  of  Isaac  is  also  rejected.  And  above  :  "  For  they  are  not 
all  Israel  who  are  of  Israel,  that  is  Jacob  ;"  so  that  not  even  all 
the  natural  seed  of  Jacob  are  on  that  account  of  the  true  elect,  as  it 
is  again  written  :  "  Israel  hath  not  obtained  that  which  he  seeketh 
for  ;  but  the  election  hath  obtained  it,  and  the  rest  were  blinded." 
(xi.  7.) 

And  besides  all  this,  some  of  the  true  elect  of  God,  or  children  of 
the  promise,  are  found  among  the  nations  who  are  not  Israelites  by 
nature,  being  uncircumcised,  who  are  nevertheless  the  children  of 
Abraham.  "  And  he  received  the  sign  of  circumcision,  a  seal  of  the 
righteousness  of  the  faith  which  he  had  being  yet  uncircumcised  ;  that 
he  might  be  the  father  of  all  them  that  believe,  though  they  be  not 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  165 

circumcised  ;    that  righteousness  might  be  imputed  to  them   also." 

(iv.  11.) 
It  is  therefore  evident,  that  the  rejecting  of  Esau  from  that  certain 

lot  to  which  Jacob  was  called,  is  so  far  from  proving  that  his  soul  was 
reprobated  of  God  to  damnation,  the  whole  affair  will  not  prove  that 
either  Abraham,  Isaac  or  Jacob,  or  all  of  them  together,  were  the 
true  elect  of  God,  or  the  true  centre  in  whom  the  elect  are  found  : 
it  is  even  certain  they  were  not,  for  none  of  them  lived  according  to 
the  faith  of  the  promised  elect  when  he  came.  They  were,  all  of 
them,  only  types  at  best.  For  although  Abraham  is  called  the  father 
of  the  faithful,  as  being  himself  faithful  and  called  of  God,  to  be  the 
father  of' those  among  whom  the  name  and  worship  of  the  true  God 
were  for  a  time  preserved  in  the  world,  until  the  true  elect  appeared, 
he  was  not  so  in  reality,  but  only  in  a  figure,  before  him  whom  he  be- 
lieved. And  though  Isaac  is  called  the  promised  seed,  he  was  not  so 
in  reality,  but  Christ,  as  it  is  written,  "And  to  thy  seed,  which  is 
Christ."  He  is  the  seed  to  whom  the  promise  was  made.  And 
though  Jacob  is  called  Israel,  or  the  prince  of  God,  he  was  not  the 
true  substance,  for  his  children  were  not  all  faithful.  "  For  they  are 
not  all  Israel  who  are  of  Israel ;  that  is,  they  who  are  the  children 
of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  children  of  God."  (Rom.  ix.  6,  8.)  If 
then  Jacob  was  the  elect  of  God,  whom  he  loved  in  preference  to 
Esau,  "  that  the  purpose  of  God  according  to  election  might  stand," 
and  he  was  that  elect  only  in  a  figure,  as  it  is  proved,  he  represented 
that  which  God  loved,  in  contrast  with  that  which  he  hated,  and  which 
Esau  represented.  Now  what  are  the  things  which  are  radically  and 
essentially  contrasted  with  each  other  before  God,  the  one  being  an 
object  of  his  love,  and  the  other  of  hatred  ?  The  Spirit  and  the 
flesh  ;  "  for  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against 
the  flesh  ;  and  these  are  contrary  the  one  to  the  other."  (Gal.  v.  17.) 
God  therefore  loves  the  Spirit  and  all  the  spiritual  seed,  and  hates 
the  flesh.  And  to  this  agree  the  words  of  the  Apostle,  as  he  saith ; 
"  They  who  are  the  children  of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  children 
of  God  :  but  the  children  of  the  promise  are  counted  for  the  seed." 
That  is,  the  children  of  Christ,  who  are  born  of  the  Spirit  ;  for  to 
him  the  promise  was  made.  Jacob,  therefore,  is  the  Spirit  in  a  fig- 
ure, whom  God  loves  with  all  the  seed,  and  Esau  is  the  flesh  in  a  fig- 
ure, which  God  hates  with  all  its  works. 

Jacob  and  Esau,  therefore,  viewed  as  representing  the  Spirit  and 
the  flesh,  or  the  children  of  God  and  the  children  of  this  world,  are 
important  characters,  and  set  forth  the  condition  of  the  lineages  which 
they  represent  in  striking  colours.  But  that  Esau  was  consigned  to 
eternal  wrath  by  that  election,  without  respect  to  his  works,  there  is 
not  one  word  in  all  the  account,  or  anywhere  else,  to  prove.  For 
admitting  the  fact,  that  he  lived  wicked  and  died  the  same,  his  wick- 
edness is  not  ascribed  to  his  being  reprobated  on  the  principle  of 
having  done  neither  good  nor  evil.  And  when  he  is  called  a  profane 
person,  it  is  on  the  principle  of  neglecting  that  privilege  which  was 
his  by  right  of  inheritance.  He  had  by  birth  a  right  to  the  blessing, 
and  would  not  have  lost  it,  had  he  not  sold  it  as  he  did,  for  a  morsel 
of  meat.  Thus  many  sell  the  Spirit  for  the  flesh  :  this  was  Esau's 
sin  J  "  a  fornicator,  or  profane  person."  (Heb.  xii.  16.) 


166  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

And  the  Scriptures  sliow  plainly  enough,  that  to  love  Jacob  and 
hate  Esau,  (which  the  Apostle  quoted  from  the  prophet  Malachi,) 
had  no  respect  to  the  persons  of  Jacob  and  Esau,  much  less  to  their 
being  predestinated,  the  one  to  eternal  life  and  the  other  to  damna- 
tion, without  regard  to  their  character  and  works.  "  Was  not  Esau 
Jacob's  brother,  saith  the  Lord  ?  yet  I  loved  Jacob,  and  hated  Esau, 
and  laid  his  mountains  and  his  heritage  waste,  for  the  dragons  of'  the 
wilderness."  (Mai.  i.  2,  3.)  But  this  desolating  of  Esau  did  not 
come  to  pass  until  Jacob  and  Esau  had  long  deceased  ;  and  his  pos- 
terity brought  it  on  themselves  by  their  own  wicked  and  cruel  con- 
duct. "  For  thy  violence  against  thy  brother  Jacob,  shame  shall  cov- 
er thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  cut  off  forever."  (Oba.  10.)  And  the 
grand  purpose  which  the  quotation  from  Malachi  serves  in  the 
Apostle's  discourse,  is  to  show  that  the  election  of  God  is  permanent- 
ly fixed,  and  that  such  also  is  the  result,  not  in  the  person  of  Jacob 
and  his  posterity,  according  to  the  flesh,  to  eternal  life,  and  in  the 
person  of  Esau  and  his  posterity,  according  to  the  flesh,  to  eternal 
damnation  ;  but  in  the  Spirit  and  in  the  children  of  the  Spirit,  whom 
Jacob  represented,  to  eternal  life,  and  the  flesh  and  all  its  works  and 
children  who  so  remain,  to  inevitable  and  eternal  damnation.  For  as 
aforesaid,  these  things  can  never  S,pply  to  Jacob  and  Esau  in  person  ; 
for  Esau  never  served  Jacob,  but  Jacob  rather  served  him,  being  al- 
ways afraid  of  him,  until  they  were  well  advanced  in  years,  when  they 
were  in  good  friendship  together,  and  each  one  took  his  inheritance 
without  any  difficulty.  But  the  fate  of  Esau's  posterity  outwardly,  is 
a  striking  representation  of  the  end  of  the  flesh,  which  is  to  be  utterly 
abolished.  "  Whereas  Edom  saith,  we  are  impoverished,  but  we  will 
return  and  build  the  desolate  places ;  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ; 
They  shall  build,  but  I  will  throw  down  :  and  they  shall  call  them, 
the  border  of  wickedness,  and  the  people  against  whom  the  Lord  hath 
ndignation  forever."  (Mai.  i.  4.) 

Now  there  was  truly  no  occasion  for  God  to  have  respect  to  the 
works  of  any  individuals  for  a  reason  to  condemn  the  nature  of  evil, 
or  the  flesh,  which  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and  by  consequence,  all 
who  would  cleave  to  it.  Neither  was  there  any  need,  that  God  should 
wait  until  the  children  were  born,  or  had  done  good  or  evil  actions, 
before  he  should  make  a  choice,  according  to  his  own  wisdom,  who 
should  represent  the  flesh  in  a  figure,  and  who  the  Spirit ;  "  not  of 
works,  but  of  him  that  calleth."  For  in  that  election,  Esau,  who  was 
hated,  as  representing  the  flesh,  was  no  more  excluded,  as  an  indi- 
vidual man,  neither  any  one  of  his  posterity,  from  the  salvation  of  his 
soul,  than  Jacob.  "  That  the  purpose  of  God  according  to  election 
might  stand,  not  of  him  that  calleth,  it  was  said  unto  her.  The  elder 
shall  serve  the  younger."  Now  the  election  of  God  was  the  upbuild- 
ing of  the  Spirit,  and  the  rejection  of  the  flesh.  But  the  flesh  is  first; 
that  is,  all  men  have  an  existence  in  the  flesh  before  they  become 
spiritual.  Adam,  or  the  old  creation,  is  foremost  in  the  generation 
of  men  ;  afterwards  Christ,  in  the  regeneration,  or  work  of  the  Spirit, 
as  saith  the  Apostle  :  "  There  is  a  natural  body,  and  there  is  a  spirit- 
ual body.  And  so  it  is  written,  the  first  man,  Adam,  was  made  a  liv- 
ing soul :  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  Spirit.  Howbeit 
that  was  not  first,  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural ;  and 


OF    ELECTION  *AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  167 

after-ward  that  which  is  spiritual."  (1  Cor.  xv.  44-46.)  Accord- 
ingly the  purpose  of  God  was  with  great  wisdom,  that  the  elder  should 
serve  the  younger  ;  that  the  flesh  should  serve  the  Spirit,  being  in 
subjection  to  it,  and  not  rule  over  it,  as  has  been  the  case  in  the 
family  of  the  first  Adam  ever  since  the  first  transgression. 

Jacob  and  Esau  are  not  the  only  two  who  have  been  types  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  flesh,  in  whom  it  may  be  seen,  that  the  elder  serves 
the  younger,  or  that  the  Spirit  will  finally  supplant  the  flesh  and  root 
it  out  forever.  Ishmael  was  the  elder  and  Isaac  the  younger  ;  but 
Ishmael  was  born  after  the  flesh,  of  a  bond-woman,  and  Isaac  by  pro- 
mise, of  a  free-woman  ;  and  "  what  saith  the  Scripture  ?  Cast  out 
the  bond-woman  and  her  son  ;  for  the  son  of  the  bond-woman  shall 
not  be  heir  with  the  son  of  the  free-woman."  (Gal.  iv.  30.)  Saul 
was  the  first  king  of  Israel,  but  David  who  kept  covenant  with  God, 
took  the  kingdom.  And  in  many  things  hath  God  shown  that  the  old 
creation  which  is  according  to  the  flesh,  is  to  be  dissolved,  and  the 
new  creation  in  Christ,  which  is  according  to  the  Spirit,  to  remain 
forever. 

But  the  Apostle  proceeds  :  "  What  shall  we  say  then  ?  Is  there 
unrighteousness  with  God  .''  God  forbid."  Does  God  appoint  any 
man  to  wrath  without  any  cause  in  the  man  as  the  reason  of  it }  or 
does  he  select  some  to  eternal  life,  and  leave  the  rest  to  perish,  until 
they  first  make  choice  of  the  road  to  destruction.?  Never.  God 
does  no  such  things;  for  there  is  no  unrighteousness  in  him.  But  is 
it  unrighteous  in  God  to  condemn  the  flesh  which  lusteth  against  the 
Spirit,  and  to  promote  the  Sprit  to  eternal  life  ?  By  no  means  ; 
Who  can  gainsay  him  ?  Might  not  God  purpose,  without  unright- 
eousness, in  the  first  creation  of  man  according  to  the  natural  order 
of  the  flesh,  to  bring  that  order  to  a  close  ;  but  especially  now  when 
it  and  its  children  are  corrupted,  when  it  is  become  the  cage  of  every 
unclean  and  hateful  bird,  may  he  not  in  righteousness  have  decreed 
its  dissolution,  and  promote  the  Spirit  as  the  superior  state  of  happi- 
ness for  men,  in  the  new  creation,  to  eternal  glory  ?  It  is  unexcep- 
tionable. 

"  For  he  saith  unto  Moses,  I  will  have  mercy  on  whom  I  will  have 
mercy,  [or  on  whom  I  have  mercy,  in  the  Greek,]  and  I  will  have 
compassion  on  whom  I  will  have  compassion,  [or  on  whom  I  have 
compassion.]  So  then  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth  nor  of  him  that 
runneth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy."  And  who  ever  thought 
any  thing  else  than  that  salvation  is  all  of  God  ?  Would  any  man  by 
his  willing  or  running  ever  have  found  the  way  to  be  saved  .•"  Would 
any  ever  have  thought  of  everlastingly  condemning  the  flesh  for  the 
final  redemption  of  the  spirit.''  Not  one.  All  would  have  gone 
their  own  way,  in  the  flesh — they  would  all  have  willed  its  life. 

With  respect  to  the  use  which  some  make  of  this  saying  of  God  to 
Moses,  as  if  in  the  hands  of  the  Apostle  it  proved  that  God  ap- 
points men  to  life  or  to  wrath,  without  respect  to  their  proper  charac- 
ter, it  only  exposes  the  weakness  of  such  a  plan.  The  work  of  the 
ministers  of  Christ  is,  after  his  own  example,  to  set  forth  the 
righteousness  of  God  to  men,  and  show  them  that  in  all  his  dealings 
with  them  he  is  just,  consistently  with  that  reason  with  which  he  has 
indued  them.      Come^  saith  the  Lord,  let  us  reason  together.     But  the 


168  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

argument  is  forced  and  arbitrary  indeed  to  prove  that  it  is  rigiiteous- 
ness  in  God  to  dispose  of  men  in  that  sovereign  or  absolute  manner, 
to  say,  He  said  he  would  do  it.  Tliis  kind  of  reasoning  would  not  jus- 
tify the  character  of  a  man,  but  highly  criminate  him  as  a  willful, 
unreasonable  being,  and  how  shall  it  jiistify  that  conduct  in  God,  from 
whom  more  justice  is  expected  than  from  men  ?  And  what  is  in  that 
saying  as  delivered  to  Moses,  to  show  that  God  would  deal  with  the 
souls  of  men  in  that  absolute  manner  ?  Moses  had  been  pleading 
with  him  to  continue  his  favours  to  the  people  of  Israel,  and  to  show 
him  his  glory,  and  he  promised  to  do  so  ;  "  And  he  said,  I  will  make 
all  my  goodness  pass  before  thee,  and  I  will  proclaim  the  name  of  the 
Lord  before  thee  ;  and  will  be  gracious  to  whom  I  will  be  gracious, 
and  will  show  mercy  on  whom  I  will  show  mercy,"  (Exod.  xxxiii. 
19  ;)  as  much  as  to  say.  What  I  have  promised  I  will  do — I  will  keep 
my  covenant.  Accordingly,  he  kept  covenant  with  Israel,  wicked  as 
they  were,  because  he  had  made  promise  to  their  fathers  and  they  kept 
the  remembrance  of  the  name  of  God  and  his  Church,  until  out  of 
them,  as  pertaining  to  the  flesh,  Christ  came,  whose  seed  are  the  faith- 
ful only.  But  what  have  these  things  to  do  with  appointing  any  man 
to  eternal  wrath,  without  respect  to  his  real  or  personal  character .'' 
Nothing  at  all.  Hence  when  God  came  to  make  himself  known  to 
Moses  according  to  promis.e,  it  was  to  this  purpose  :  "  The  Lord, 
The  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering  and  abundant  in 
goodness  and  truth ;  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity 
and  transgression  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  (the 
guilty.")  So  in  this  proclamation  of  dread  sovereignty,  so  reputed, 
to  Moses,  the  guilty  alone,  and  they  only  by  remaining  impenitent^ 
are  excluded  from  the  favour  of  God  ;  for  he  forgiveth  iniquity, 
transgression  and  sin,  and  will  not  clear  certain  who  are  called  the 
guilty.  The  word  guilty  is  not  in  the  Hebrew,  but  seems  to  be  a  very 
proper  supplement.  (Exod.  xxxiv.  6,  7.)  In  like  manner  the  Apos- 
tle's reasoning  will  terminate,  as  we  shall  see,  that  they  only  are  re- 
jected who  do  not  comply  with  God's  offers  in  the  Gospel. 

"  For  the  Scripture  saith  unto  Pharaoh,  Even  for  this  same  pur- 
pose have  I  raised  thee  up,  that  I  might  show  my  power  in  thee, 
and  that  my  name  might  be  declared  throughout  all  the  earth. 
Therefore  hath  he  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  and  whom 
he  will  he  hardeneth."  And  whom  will  he  harden .''  the  obedient  and 
disobedient  without  discrimination  .?  God  forbid.  But  the  disobe- 
dient and  profane  as  Pharaoh  was ;  and  who  could  say,  "  Who  is  the 
Lord  that  I  should  obey  his  voice  ;"  and  who  harden  themselves  as 
Pharaoh  did.  But  who  will  produce  an  example  of  an  obedient  man, 
or  one  who  does  the  best  he  knows,  or  can  know,  whom  God  has 
set  aside  to  wrath  by  this  abetted  sovereignty  which  men  have  palmed 
upon  God  }  Where  is  the  wise  man  ?  Where  is  the  disputer  of  this 
world  ?  Where  is  the  philosopher  ?  Who  is  able  to  establish  such  a 
notion  of  God's  dealings  with  men  ?  Has  not  God  in  these  last  days 
confounded  such  wisdom  .?     "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die." 

"  Thou  wilt  say  then  unto  me.  Why  doth  he  yet  find  fault  ?  for 
who  hath  resisted  his  will  .'* "  True  enough ;  if  God  appoints 
every  man  to  this  condition  or  that,  without  regard  to  the  faith  or 
works  of  any  one,  who  has  resisted  his  will  ?  or  who  can  .?     Come 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  169 

forth,  Paul,  and  vindicate  the  character  of  God  on  that  plan.  But 
as  thou  hast  no  reason  to  give,  I  will  give  thee  an  answer  according 
to  truth  and  righteousness,  and  clear  the  character  of  God,  before  all 
men,  until  they  shall  all  confess  that  the  way  of  the  Lord  is  equal. 
The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die.  And  therefore  doth  he  justly 
find  faiilt,  because  all  they  who  are  not  saved  have  resisted  his  will ; 
for  he  is  "not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come 
to  repentance."  "Who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved  and  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth."  "Ye  stiff-necked  and  uncircum- 
cised  in  heart  and  ears,  ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost ;  as  your 
fathers  did,  so  do  ye."  (2  Pet.  iii.  9  ;  1  Tim.  ii.  4  ;  Acts  vii.  51.) 

"  Nay  but,  O  man,  who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God  ?  Shall 
the  thing  formed  say  to  him  that  formed  it.  Why  hast  thou  made 
me  thus .''"  What  now,  Paul }  wilt  thou  confound  a  man  by  sove- 
reign mandates,  without  rendering  him  a  reason  .?  God  forbid,  that 
any  man  should  be  so  foolish  as  to  yield,  so  far  as  to  conclude  that 
God  forms  men  for  wrath  until  they  first  form  themselves  !  "  This 
only  have  I  found,"  said  Solomon,  [and  that  will  relieve  us  now,] 
"  that  God  made  man  upright ;  but  they  "  [not  God  for  them]  "  have 
sought  out  many  inventions.''''  (Eccl.  vii.  29.)  "  As  I  live,  saith  the 
Lord  God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked  ;  but  that 
the  wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live."  (Ezek.  xxxiii.  11.)  Now, 
Paul,  yield  ;  and  we  also  will  grant  to  thee,  that  a  man  needs  not 
reply  against  God, until  God  does  something  unfair,  which  will  never  be. 

"  Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  clay,  of  the  same  lump  to 
make  one  vessel  to  honour  and  another  to  dishonour."  Now,  Paul, 
I  will  answer  thee  again,  out  of  the  book  of  God,  (Jer.  xviii.  1,2, 
&c.:)  "  The  word  which  came  to  Jeremiah  from  the  Lord,  saying, 
Arise,  and  go  down  to  the  potter's  house,  and  there  will  I  cause  thee 
to  hear  my  words.  Then  I  went  down  to  the  potter's  house ;  and 
behold,  he  wrought  a  work  on  the  wheels.  And  the  vessel  that  he 
made  of  clay  was  marred  in  the  hand  of  the  potter  ;  so  he  made  it 
again  another  vessel,  as  seemed  good  to  the  potter  to  make  it,"  (such 
as  it  appeared  to  him  fit  to  make.)  "  Then  the  word  of  the  Lord 
came  to  me,  saying,  O  house  of  Israel,  cannot  I  do  with  you  as  this 
potter  }  saith  the  Lord  God.  Behold,  as  the  clay  is  in  the  potter's 
hand,  so  are  ye  in  my  hand,  0  house  of  Israel !  At  what  instant  I 
shall  speak  concerning  a  nation,  and  concerning  a  kingdom,  to  pluck 
up,  and  to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy  it :  if  that  nation  against  whom 
I  have  pronounced,  turn  from  their  evil,  I  will  repent  of  the  evil  that 
I  thought  to  do  unto  them.  And  at  what  time  I  speak  concerning  a 
nation,  and  concerning  a  kingdom,  to  build  and  to  plant ;  if  it  do 
evil  in  my  sight,  that  it  obey  not  my  voice,  then  I  will  repent  of  the 
good  wherewith  I  said  I  would  benefit  them."  So  much  power  then 
has  the  potter  over  the  clay,  to  make  a  mean  vessel  of  the  clay  which 
will  not  form  into  an  honourable  one.  And  so  has  God  power  over 
the  people  (the  mass  was  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  and  under  the 
Gospel,  it  is  the  whole  world,)  to  do  evil  against  those  who  do  wick- 
edness. Now,  Paul,  wilt  thou  not  be  satisfied;  especially  after  thou 
hast  thyself  acknowledged  that  "  in  a  great  house  there  are  not  only 
vessels  of  gold  and  of  silver,  but  also  of  wood  and  of  earth  ;  and  some 
to  honour  and  some  to  dishonour.     If  a  man  therefore  purge  himself 


170  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

from  these,  lie  sliall  be  a  vessel  unto  honour,  sanctified,  and  meet  for 
the  master's  use,  prepared  to  every  good  work."  It  is,  therefore, 
decided  by  thy  own  words  that  the  vessel  to  dishonour  or  to  wrath, 
may  purge  himself  from  his  connection  with  these  vessels  of  wrath, 
and  become  a  vessel  to  honour  and  mercy :  for  a  man  cannot  purge 
himself  from  that  which  is  not  attached  to  him. 

Nay,  but  let  me  plead  once  more,  at  least  thus  far  :  "  What  if 
God,  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power  known,  en- 
dured with  much  long-suffering  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruc- 
tion ;  and  that  he  might  make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory  on  the 
vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  had  afore  prepared  unto  glory,  even  us, 
whom  he  hath  called,  not  of  the  Jews  only,  but  also  of  the  Gentiles." 
Yea,  Paul,  that  reasoning  will  do.  There  is  no  xmrighteousness  in 
the  thought,  that  God  should  endiu-e  long  with  those  who  are  already 
vessels  of  wrath  fitted  for  destruction,  that  he  may  show  his  wrath 
against  sin,  or  the  flesh  which  they  serve,  and  make  known  his  power 
eventually  in  their  destruction,  as  in  the  case  of  Pharaoh,  that  his 
name  may  be  known  and  feared  throughout  the  earth  ;  or  that  he 
should  long  preserve  the  vessels  of  mercy,  and  not  remove  them  im- 
mediately out  of  the  view  of  the  world,  that  he  might  make  known 
the  riches  of  his  glory  and  grace  on  those  whom  he  has  afore  pre- 
pared thereto.  For  God  to  manifest  his  grace  and  glory  on  the  sub- 
jects of  his  grace,  and  to  make  known  his  wrath  on  the  vessels  of 
wrath,  is  rational  and  justifiable.  But  that  is  a  very  different  thing 
from  predestinating  men  to  mercy  or  to  wrath  without  respect  to  their 
faith  or  works.  Let  us  then  hear  the  conclusion  in  Paul's  own 
words  :  "  What  shall  we  say  then  ?  That  the  Gentiles  who  fol- 
lowed not  after  righteousness,  have  attained  to  righteousness,  even 
the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith  :  but  Israel,  who  followed  after  the 
law  of  rio-hteousness  hath  not  attained  to  the  law  of  risrhteousness. 
Wherefore  .?  Because  they  sought  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by 
the  works  of  the  law  ;  for  they  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stone." 
Thus  when  Paul  bringeth  the  matter  to  a  final  conclusion,  the  princi- 
ple on  which  any  faU,  is  their  not  complying  with  God's  terms.  And 
a  little  after  ;  (Rom.  x.  3  ;)  "  For  they,  being  ignorant  of  God's 
righteousness,  and  going  about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness, 
have  not  submitted  themselves  to  the  righteousness  of  God." 

I  grant  the  Apostle's  language  is  somewhat  abstruse  on  this  sub- 
ject, yet  not  unintelligible  ;  and  the  conclusion  which  he  has  di'awn 
from  the  whole  in  his  own  words  decidedly  proves  the  above  exposi- 
tion to  be  correct.  But  he  did  not  write  so  without  his  reason  ;  it 
being  often  necessary  to  give  a  subject  a  very  awful  cast,  to  impress 
the  mind  more  deeply  with  a  sense  of  how  important  it  is  to  act  in 
all  things  conformably  to  the  will  of  God.  "  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  (Heb.  x.  31.)  Neither  let  it  be 
forgotten  that  Paul,  according  to  the  toisdom  given  to  him,  has  ivritlen 
some  things  hard  to  be  understood,  which  they  who  are  unlearned  and  un- 
stable [though  not  the  honest  and  the  wise  toward  God,]  wrest,  as 
they  do  also  the  other  Scriptures,  to  their  own  destruction.  Let  people, 
therefore,  beware  how  they  tarnish  the  justice  and  glory  of  his  char- 
acter with  whom  we  have  to  do  ;  "  for  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire." 
(Heb.  xii.  29.) 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  171 

CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

We  have  already  seen  concerning  the  election  of  God  that  he  has 
reprobated  the  flesh,  and  by  consequence  all  who  cleave  to  it,  and 
chosen  his  people  in  the  Spirit.  We  have  also  seen  it  proved,  that  the 
natural  seed  of  Jacob  are  not,  on  that  account,  elect  in  the  Spirit ;  as 
well  as  that  the  Gentiles  who  receive  the  faith  of  Christ  by  the  Gospel, 
are  of  the  true  seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the  promise  ;  so  that  Jews 
and  Gentiles  have  equal  freedom  of  access  to  the  promised  salvation  in 
Christ.  We  have  seen  farther,  that  those  Israelites  who  have  not  at- 
tained to  the  law  of  righteousness,  have  failed  through  unbelief;  "  for 
they  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stone  ;  as  it  is  written,  behold,  I  lay  in 
Zion,  a  stumbling-stone  and  rock  of  offence  :  and  whosoever  believeth 
on  him  shall  not  be  ashamed."  (Rom.  ix.  32,  33.)  But  we  have  to 
inquire  still  farther  concerning  the  elect  of  God  both  among  the  people 
of  Israel  and  among  the  Gentiles.  For  although  the  Gentiles  have  be- 
come fellow-heirs  with  the  Jews,  and  partakers  of  the  same  covenant 
ofeternal  life,  the  middle  wall  of  partition  being  taken  away,  God  still 
remembers  his  covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  in  the 
seed  promised  in  that  covenant  will  include  all  the  faithful,  whether 
Jews  or  Gentiles.  "  God  hath  not  cast  off'  his  people  whom  he  fore- 
knew." (Rom.  xi.  2.  &c.)  "  Wot  ye  not,  what  the  Scripture  saith  of 
Elias,  how  he  maketh  intercession  to  God  against  Israel,  saying,  Lord, 
they  have  killed  thy  prophets  and  digged  down  thy  altars  ;  and  I  am 
left  alone,  and  they  seek  my  life  .?  But  what  saith  the  answer  of  God 
to  him  ^  I  have  reserved  to  myself  seven  thousand  men,  (even  all  the 
men,)  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal,  or  have  not  kissed  him." 
(Compare  1  Kings  xix,  18.)  As  these  had  not  worshipped  Baal,  nor 
joinea  in  killing  the  prophets,  of  whom  Elijah  alone  seems  to  have  been 
left  at  that  time,  God  had  reserved  them  from  the  destruction  to  be 
made  by  Hazael,  Jehu  and  Elisha,  which  the  Apostle  considers  as  a  fig- 
ure of  the  election  to  salvation  in  Christ.  Aid  very  properly,  because 
as  they  had  their  lives  preserved  by  obedience  to  the  true  God  and  re- 
fusing to  worship  Baal,  so  the  ingrafting  into  Christ  and  continuing 
there  depended  on  complying  with  the  Gospel  offers  and  continuing 
therein,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel.     Reader,  understand. 

But  the  Apostle  proceeds  :  "  Even  so,  then,  at  this  present  time  also 
there  is  a  remnant  accordingto  the  election  of  grace.  And  if  by  grace 
then  it  is  no  more  of  works  ;  otherwise  grace  is  no  more  grace.  But 
if  it  be  of  works,  then  it  is  no  more  grace  ;  otherwise  work  is  no  more 
work."  It  has  been  before  shown  that  the  works  of  the  law  are  they 
which  the  Apostle  every  where  condemned  as  having  no  part  in  our 
acceptance  with  God,  and  which  were  a  separating  wall  between  Jews 
and  Gentiles.  But  the  language  is  here  so  decisive  and  absolute  that 
it  will  certainly  be  understood  to  exclude  works  of  every  description 
from  any  part  in  our  justification,  or  in  numbering  us  among  God's  elect. 
But  men  who  judge  of  the  letter  by  short-sighted,  carnal  reason,  are  ex- 
posed to  err.     To  view  this  passage  as  respecting  the  election  of  indi- 


172  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

viduals  to  the  exclusion  of  others,  without  contemplating  the  point  at 
which  the  Apostle  aimed,  it  might  seem  to  establish  the  notion  that  God 
absolutely  appoints  men  to  life  or  death,  without  making  any  account 
of  their  faith  or  works.  But  saith  he,  "  there  is  at  this  time  a  rem- 
nant according  to  the  election  of  grace."  We  have  before  seen  what 
the  election  of  grace  is  ;  that  God  having  rejected  the  flesh  and  chosen 
the  Spirit,  chose  Jacob  to  represent  the  Spirit,  and  confirmed  to  him 
the  covenant  made  with  Abraham  and  Isaac ;  according  therefore  to 
this  election  of  grace,  the  blessing  of  Abraham,  [now  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,]  is  continued  with  his  seed,  and  some  have  believed  ;  there 
was  therefore  a  remnant  according  to  the  election  of  grace.  It  was  by 
this  grace  of  God  the  plan  was  laid,  and  by  the  same  grace  it  was  con- 
tinued, and  is  now  known  among  the  Gentiles,  since  the  Jews  have  so 
universally  rejected  the  Gospel. 

Now  those  who  believed  are  called  the  election  in  distinction  from 
the  rest.  "  What  then  .'  Israel  hath  not  obtained  that  which  he  seek- 
eth  for ;  but  the  election  hath  obtained  it  and  the  rest  were  blinded 
(according  as  it  is  written,  God  hath  given  them  a  spirit  of  slum- 
ber, eyes  that  they  should  not  see,  and  ears  that  they  should  not 
hear)  unto  this  day.  And  David  saith,  let  their  table  be  made  a 
snare,  and  a  trap,  and  a  stumbling-block,  and  a  recompense  unto 
them  :  let  their  eyes  be  darkened,  that  they  may  not  see,  and  bow 
down  their  back  alway."  We  have  before  shown  that  this  quota- 
tion from  Isaiah  is  used  of  those  who  blind  their  own  eyes  and  stop 
their  own  ears.  And  the  words  quoted  from  the  psalm  are  by  the 
author  expressly  spoken  of  the  enemy,  to  point  out  the  reward  of 
iniquity.  We  have  also  seen  that  those  who  believe  and  walk  in  the 
obedience  of  faith  are  the  true  elect  of  God  according  to  the  Scriptures  ; 
so  here  they  who  have  believed  are  called  the  election,  in  distinction 
from  those  who  have  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stone.  "  1  say  then  ; 
have  they  stumbled  that  they  should  fall  f  God  forbid :  but  rather 
through  their  fall  salvation  is  come  to  the  Gentiles  for  to  provoke 
them  to  jealousy."  Then  it  seems  these  non-elect  are  not  finally 
lost ;  they  have  not  stumbled  that  they  should  fall ;  they  have  only 
staggered  out  of  the  way  and  may  yet  be  gathered  in  and  become  a 
part  of  the  election.  "  And  they  also,  if  they  abide  not  still  in  unbe- 
lief, shall  be  grafFed  in  :  for  God  is  able  to  graff  them  in  again."  (Rom. 
xi.  23.)  This  election  then,  to  carry  it  to  the  utmost,  is  no  more 
than  that  of  which  we  spake  before,  a  people  chosen  to  go  foremost 
to  be  a  help,  and  to  open  the  way  to  others.  And  in  the  mean  time, 
God  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  having  directed  his  ministers  to  avail 
themselves  of  every  opportunity  to  gain  souls,  when  the  Jews  reject- 
ed them,  sent  them  to  the  Gentiles ;  for  through  their  fall  salvation 
is  come  to  the  Gentiles  to  provoke  them  who  had  fallen,  to  jealousy, 
that  they  also  might  repent,  and  thus  salvation  work  be  promoted  on 
every  hand.  "  Now  if  the  fall  of  them  be  the  riches  of  the  world,  and 
the  diminishing  of  them,  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles,  how  much  more 
their  fullness  .?  For  I  speak  to  the  Gentiles  ;  inasmuch  as  I  am  the 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  I  magnify  mine  office  ;  if  by  any  means  I  may 
provoke  to  emulation  them  who  are  my  flesh,  and  might  save  some  of 
them.''''  Of  whom. ^  Surely  not  of  the  election  who  have  already  ob- 
tained that  salvation  which  they  sought ;  might  save  some  of  them  only'? 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  173 

Nay,  but  of  the  rest  who  were  blinded  ;  the  non-elect  who  had  fallen, 
or  stumbled  :  these  then  were  yet  within  the  reach  of  salvation,  and 
might  be  added  to  the  number  of  the  elect. 

The  Apostle  proceeds  to  show  farther,  that  the  partial  falling  off  of 
the  Jews  was  the  means  of  opening  the  door  of  faith  and  salvation  to 
the  Gentiles  ;  as  he  said  in  another  place  :  "  It  was  necessary  that  the 
word  of  God  should  first  have  been  spoken  to  you  ;  but  seeing  ye  put 
it  from  you,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  lo,  we 
turn  to  the  Gentiles  ;  for  so  hath  the  Lord  commanded  us,  saying,  I 
have  set  thee  to  be  alight  to  the  Gentiles."  And  again  :  "  Be  it  known 
therefore  unto  you,  that  the  salvation  of  God  is  sent  to  the  Gentiles 
and  they  will  hear  it."  (Acts  xiii.  46,  47,  and  xxviii,  28.)  And  he 
shows  besides  that  the  return  of  the  Jews  will  be  the  means  of  a  still 
greater  spreading  of  the  Gospel  in  the  world,  even  as  life  from  the  dead. 
He  nevertheless  shows  that  the  standing  of  the  Gentiles  in  the  blessing 
of  the  Gospel,  or  God's  covenant  of  salvation,  depends  on  their  perse- 
verance in  the  faith  and  their  continuance  in  that  goodness  which  God 
had  exercised  towards  them,  and  that  the  return  of  the  Jews  awaits 
their  ceasing  from  unbelief.  And  thus  he  winds  up  the  doctrine  of 
election,  as  herein  stated,  that  every  man  is  to  be  added  to  the  number 
of  God's  elect  or  people,  or  to  the  book  of  life,  or  excluded  from  it,  ac- 
cording to  his  personal  character  and  works,  where  both  revelation  and 
all  reason  leave  it.  But  he  remains  confident  that  God  will  still  remem- 
ber his  covenant  made  with  their  fathers,  and  that  election  which  was 
first  set  forth  in  them,  and  that  the  children  will  yet  be  found  parta- 
kers in  that  salvation  which  is  in  Christ  who  is  the  true  seed  of  the 
promise,  the  true  elect  in  whom  all  others  are  found. 

"  For  if  the  casting  away  of  them  be  the  reconciling  of  the  world, 
what  shall  the  receiving  of  them  be,  but  life  from  the  dead  ?  For  if 
the  first-fruit  be  holy,  the  lump  is  also  holy  ;"  (If  the  children  of  Isra- 
el who  have  already  become  believers  in  Christ  are  holy,  and  a  sweet 
savour  to  God,  as  being  the  offering  of  the  first-fruits,  the  remainder, 
when  found  in  the  same  condition,  can  be  no  less  valuable.)  "  And  if 
the  root  be  holy,  [as  a  people  covenanted  to  God,]  so  aife  the  branch- 
es." God  will  therefore  yet  remember  them,  and  pursue  them  by  the 
Gospel,  according  to  the  promises  of  his  covenant.  "  And  if  some  of 
the  branches  be  broken  off,  [for  a  time,]  and  thou  being  a  wild  olive- 
tree,  wert  graffed  in  among  them,  [who  stand,]  and  with  them  parta- 
kest  of  the  root  and  fatness  of  the  olive-tree  ;  boast  not  against  the 
branches ;  but  if  thou  boast,  thou  bearest  not  the  root,  but  the  root 
thee.  Thou  wilt  say  then,  the  branches  were  broken  off,  that  I  might 
be  graffed  in.  Well ;  because  of  unbelief,  they  were  broken  off,  and 
thou  standest  by  faith.  Be  not  high-minded,  but  fear.  For  if  God 
spared  not  the  natural  branches,  take  heed  lest  he  also  spare  not  thee. 
Behold,  therefore,  the  goodness  and  severity  of  God  :  on  them  who 
fell,  severity  ;  [or  cutting  off;]  but  towards  thee,  goodness,  if  thou  con- 
tinue in  his  goodness;  otherwise  thou  ako  shall  he  cut  off.  (There  is  the 
pivot  on  which  the  matter  turns  ;  "  The  Lord  is  with  you  while  ye 
be  with  him :  and  if  ye  seek  him,  he  will  be  found  of  you  ;  but  if  ye 
forsake  him  he  will  forsake  you."  2.  Chron.  xv.  2.)  "  And  they  also, 
if  they  abide  not  still  in  unbelief,  shall  be  graffed  in  ;  for  God  is  able  to 
graff  them  in  again." 


174  OF  ELECTION  AND  FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

"  For  if  thou  wert  cut  out  of  the  olive-tree  which  is  wild  by  nature, 
[and  therefore  had  no  participation  in  the  original  covenant,]  and  wert 
graffed  contrary  to  nature  in  a  good  olive  tree  ;  how  much  more  shall 
these  which  are  the  natural  branches,  be  graffed  into  their  own  olive- 
tree  ?"  When  they  came  to  understand  that  the  Gospel  of  Chirst  is 
the  result  of  the  promises  of  God  made  to  their  fathers,  and  the  gen- 
uine fulfillment  of  his  covenant ;  for  they  will  then  obey  it  as  their 
proper  calling  and  lawful  inheritance.  "  For  I  would  not,  brethren,  that 
3-e  should  be  ignorant  of  this  mystery,  lest  ye  should  be  wise  in  your 
own  conceits,"  (as  though  ye  were  M'orthy  to  be  more  highly  favour- 
ed, or  that  God  had  more  regard  to  you  than  others,  or  had  cast 
05"  his  people  of  Israel,)  "that  blindness  in  part  [and  not  in  the  whole, 
neither  finally,)  is  happened  to  Israel,  until  the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles 
be  come  in."  (At  which  time  the  Deliverer  shall  return  in  his  glory  to 
make  an  end  of  sin  in  his  Church.)  "And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved  ; 
as  it  is  written,  there  shall  come  out  of  Zion  the  Deliverer,  and  shall  turn 
away  ungodliness  from  Jacob.  For  this  is  my  covenant  to  them, 
when  I  shall  take  away  their  sins.  As  concerning  the  Gospel,  they 
are  enemies  for  your  sakes  ;"  (or  for  your  benefit ;  for  when  they  reject- 
ed the  Gospel  it  was  sent  to  the  Gentiles,  as  shown  before  ;)  "  but  as 
touching  the  election,  they  are  beloved  for  the  fathers'  sakes.  For  the 
gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance."  (He  will  always 
keep  the  mercy  and  truth  which  he  has  promised  to  them  that  keep 
his  covenant,  and  no  breach  can  interfere  except  on  the  part  of  man. 
God  therefore  will  rem.ember  his  covenanted  people  and  pursue  them 
to  the  last.)  "  For  as  ye  in  times  past  have  not  believed  God,  yet  have 
now  obtained  mercy  through  their  unbelief;  even  so  have  these  also 
now  not  believed,  that  through  your  mercy  they  also  may  obtain  mercy." 
Because  as  the  Gospel  of  Christ  was  first  opened  among  the  Jews,  who 
had  the  promises  and  the  oracles  of  God,  and  of  whom  as  concerning 
the  flesh  Christ  came,  in  his  first  appearing,  so  it  shall  be  and  now  is 
opened  among  the  Gentiles,  to  whom  this  promise  was  made,  with  the 
fullness  of  whom,  in  Christ's  second  appearing  among  them,  Israel  shall 
be  redeemed.  "  For  God  hath  concluded  them  all  in  unbelief,  that  he 
might  have  mercy  upon  all;"  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  as  fast  as 
they  receive  the  Gospel.  "  O  the  depth  of  the  riches,  both  of  the  wis- 
dom and  knowledge  of  God  !  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and 
his  ways  past  finding  out.?  For  who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the 
Lord  ?  or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor  .''  Or  who  hath  first  given  to 
him,  and  it  shall  be  recompensed  to  him  again.  [God  will  not  forget 
a  man's  works.]  For  of  him  and  through  him,  are  all  things  :  to  whom 
be  glory  forever,  Amen." 

But  other  Scriptures  are  proposed  as  proof  of  an  unconditional  elec- 
tion of  a  determinate  number  ;  among  which  is  the  following  :  "  All 
that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to  me  ;  and  him  that  cometh  to 
me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  (Jno.  vi.  37.)  I  cannot  help  reflecting 
on  the  difference  which  subsists  between  us  and  the  first  Christians, 
with  respect  to  quoting  Scriptures  from  the  original  text.  In  their  day, 
the  language  in  which  their  Scriptures  were  written,  was  mainly  a 
living  language,  which  no  doubt  made  it  much  easier  to  satisfy  the  peo- 
ple, or  rather  prevented  all  difficulty  from  that  quarter.  Whereas  the 
languages  in  which  the  Scriptures,  which  have  come  to  us,  were  origi- 
nally written,  had  many  peculiarities,  which  have  probably    caused 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOV/LEDGE.  175 

much  difficulty,  and  likely  have  been  the  cause  of  many  passages  being 
incorrectly  translated.  And  I  must  confess  it  is  rather  a  disagreeable 
task  to  propose  an  amendment  of  the  translation  to  those  whose  faith  is 
different  from  my  own,  and  who  are  also  unacquainted  with  the  origi- 
nal text.  But  the  acknowledgment  of  all  denominations,  that  our 
Scriptures  are  not  the  most  accurately  translated,  is  some  alleviation. 
Amendments  of  the  translation  are  in  many  places  indispensable  to  giv- 
ing the  true  and  literal  meaning  of  the  words.  But  a  greater  consola- 
tion still  is,  that  the  same  Spirit  of  God  who  helped  the  apostles  and 
prophets  to  write  the  truth  at  first,  now  dwelleth  in  his  Church,  and 
will  surely  guide  the  faithful  into  the  truth  and  salvation  of  God,  though 
they  should  never  understand  the  literal  meaning,  or  know  the  correct 
translation  of  many  parts  of  the  Scriptures.  Such  knowledge  is  not 
necessary  to  salvation  ;  it  is  enough  for  each  one  to  know  his  duty  and 
how  to  perform  it.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  no  doubt  the  duty  of  every  one 
to  use  the  knowledge  which  he  has,  prudently,  and  according  to  oppor- 
nity,  to  the  charitable  purpose  of  edifying  others. 

There  is  a  peculiarity  of  expression  in  the  text  last  quoted  from  the 
apostle  John,  which,  as  translated  elsewhere,  would  cause  the  sentence 
to  read,  "  whatsoever  the  Father  givelh  to  me."  Thus  in  the  following 
words:  "  for,  whosoever  is  born  of -God,  overcometh  the  world."  (1 
Juo.  v.  4.)  According  then  to  this  translation,  the  propriety  of  which 
I  see  no  reason  to  deny,  the  All  that  the  Father  giveth^  cannot  relate 
merely  to  any  number  of  mankind,  (for  the  word  is  singular  neuter  irav  o) 
but  to  the  power,  gifts,  graces,  and  every  part  of  the  treasure  which 
the  Father  gave  to  the  Son,  so  that  he  had  enough  to  receive  all  who 
would  come  to  him,  and  to  supply  them  with  every  necessary  aid.  And 
the  connection  in  which  the  verse  stands  is  by  no  means  unfavourable  to 
this  view.  "  Whatsoever  the  Father  giveth  to  me,  shall  come  to  me  ; 
and  him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.  [For  I  have 
enough  to  supply  him.]  For  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do 
mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me.  And  this  is  the  will 
of  the  Father  who  sent  me,  that  of  all  which  he  hath  given  me,  I  should 
lose  nothing,  [not  none^  or  no  people,]  but  should  raise  it  [not  them 
or  him]  up  again  at  the  last  day.  And  this  is  the  will  of  him  that 
sent  me,  that  every  one  who  seeth  the  Son,  andbelieveth  on  him  may 
have  everlasting  life  :  and  I  will  raise  him  [not  it]  up  again  at  the 
last  day."  All  therefore  who  believe  in  the  Son,  are  given  to  him 
of  the  Father  ;  it  is  the  Father's  will  that  he  should  take  care  of  them, 
and  that  they  should  have  eternal  life,  and  receive  their  portion  of 
every  part  of  the  treasures  of  grace  which  he  gave  to  the  Son  :  for  he 
shall  raise  all  up  again. 

It  is  also  written  in  the  record  of  the  prayer  of  Christ  to  the  Father  ; 
"  As  thou  hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give 
eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  giveij/him."  (Jno.  xvii.  2.) 
This  may  be  urged  as  a  proof  that  the  gift  of  eternal  life  in  Christ  is 
limited  to  a  definite  number  of  the  human  race,  who  were  given  by 
the  Father  to  him.  In  this  verse  also,  the  Greek  phrase,  rendered 
by,  as  many  as  is  singular  neuter  ;  (-^rSv  o,  all  which,  or  whatsoever;) 
and  it  is  considered,  and  not  without  reason,  that  a  more  correct  and 
literal  translation  is  thus  :  "  As  thou  hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh 
that  he  should  give  to  them  all  which  thou  hast  given  him — eternal 


176  OF  ELECTION  AND  FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

life  ;"  or  "  that  he  should  give  to  them  eternal  life,  all  which  thou 
hast  given  him."  And  that  God  has  given  eternal  life,  or  salvation 
in  Christ  to  all  the  human  racf ,  is  confirmed  by  other  Scriptures  ;  as, 
"  All  flesh  shall  see  the  salvation  of  God ;"  and,  "  I  will  pour  out  of 
my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh  ;  and  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  whosoever 
shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved."  (Luke  iii.  6  ;  Acts 
ii.  17,21.)  So  that  in  the  event;  they  who  have  eternal  life,  are 
they  who  make  it  theirs  by  a  right  improvement  of  the  gift.  "  Where- 
fore the  rather  give  diligence  to  make  your  calling  and  election  sure," 
in  the  Greek, /rm,  or  permanent^  [/SsjSaiau]  Accordingly,  the  testi- 
mony of  God  concerning  his  Son  is,  "  That  he  hath  given  to  us  eter- 
nal life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son  ;"  that  is,  to  all;  for,  "  He  that 
believeth  not  God  hath  made  him  a  liar,  [and  thereby  excluded  him- 
self from  the  benefit  of  the  gift,]  because  he  hath  not  believed  in  the 
testimony  which  God  hath  testified  concerning  his  Son  ;  and  this  is 
the  testimony,  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life."  Now  it 
could  not  make  God  a  liar  to  not  believe  that  which  he  has  not  said 
or  done. 

But  according  to  the  common  translation  of  the  verse  before  us,  all 
flesh,  by  which  I  conclude  it  will  not  be  presumed  that  any  thing  ejse 
is  meant  than  the  whole  human  race,  is  given  into  the  power  of  Christ 
or  given  to  him,  he  must  therefore  give  eternal  life  to  all ;  conse- 
quently, all  are  to  be  saved,  or  the  result  must  be  according  to  every 
man's  choice  to  improve  or  neglect  the  gift. 

Again  :  it  is  written  of  the  Gentiles  who  heard  the  Gospel  at  An- 
tioch,  "  And  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life  believed."  It 
is  useless  to  hesitate  or  conceal  that  this  translation  is  not  suffi- 
ciently correct,  and  therefore  subverts  the  spirit  of  the  text,  accord- 
ing to  the  common  acceptation  of  the  word  ordain^  relating  to  this 
subject. 

Cornelius  Schrevelius,  whose  Lexicon  is  in  the  hands  of  almost 
every  pupil  in  the  Greek,  renders  the  clause,  in  Latin,  thus :  Quot- 
quot  se  ipsos  paraverant  ad  vilam :  As  many  as  had  prepared  them- 
selves to  life.  But  he  has  produced  examples  out  of  ancient  Greek 
writings  which  serve  to  confirm  a  still  more  elegible  rendering,  as  per- 
taining to  the  Gospel.  In  these  examples  the  word  translated  ordained 
is  used  to  express  the  position  which  a  chief  commander  took  against 
his  enemy — consequently,  by  the  determination  of  his  own  mind,  and 
his  own  exertion.  These  examples,  however,  have  not  altered  my 
own  understanding  of  the  text.  Satisfactory  evidence  had  determined 
my  mind,  before  I  consulted  the  above  author,  to  a  translation  from 
which  I  feel  no  temptation  and  see  no  reason  to  deviate  ;  although  I 
confess  I  felt  comfortable  to  find  the  truth  so  well  supported  by  Greek 
authority. 

On  consulting  the  well-known  works  of  Philip  Doddridge,  I  found 
his  translation  as,  I  may  say,  not  so  materially  difi'erent  from  my  own : 
As  many  as  were  determined  for  eternal  life  believed.  But,  liberal  a 
man  as  he  was,  being  deeply  moulded  or  imbued  in  what  has  been 
called  high  Calvinism.,  it  was,  no  doubt,  difficult  for  him  to  translate 
this  text,  so  important  to  that  cause,  in  the  evangelical  simplicity  and 
spirit  of  the  historian,  and  leave  it  so ;  or,  rather  impossible,  especially, 
seeing  he  had  never  seen  the  living  Gospel  in  a  living  subject,  and 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  177 

therefore  could  not  understand  it.  "  Tlie  meaning,"  says  he,  "  of  the 
sacred  penman  seems  to  be,  that  all  who  were  deeply  and  seriously 
concerned  about  eternal  happiness,  (whether  that  concern  began  now 
or  was  of  longer  date,)  openly  embraced  the  Gospel.''''  And  a  little  after  : 
"  Wherever  this  temper  was,  it  was  undoubtedly  the  effect  of  a  Divine 
operation  on  their  hearts,  and  of  God's  gvsiGiovis  purpose  to  call  them, 
and  list  them  (as  it  were)  in  their  proper  places  in  his  army.''^  Thus 
he  endeavoured  to  support  the  opposite  doctrines  of  partial  election 
and  the  freedom  of  choice  in  man.  But  he  had  never  learned  that 
Divine  operations  are  ministered  by  the  Gospel,  and  that  the  purpose 
of  God  is  to  call  without  exception,  and  that  whosoever  will,  may  be 
determined,  and  come  and  list  with  Christ. 

The  words  [bViVsutfav  oVoj  -^rfav  rsrayfi-s'voi  x.  r.  X.]  translate  with  simpli- 
city and  ease  :  "  As  many  as  were  determined  on  eternal  life  believed." 
This  is  the  true  state  of  the  Gospel  wherever  it  is  preached,  in  all  the 
world  ;  it  is  preached  with  the  most  unreserved  liberality  to  all ;  and 
they  who  esteem  eternal  life  in  Christ  above  all  things  else,  and  are 
therefore  determined  to  have  it  on  all  adventures,  believe  and  lay  hold. 
For  wherever  the  Gospel  finds  an  entrance,  there  is  nothing  to  hinder 
any  one  from  believing,  besides  the  cross  or  yoke  of  Christ,  which  he 
requires  all  to  wear,  and  which,  however  good  or  easy,  is  truly  offen- 
sive to  the  carnal  mind,  which  is  enmity  against  God,  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.  This  carnal  mind,  which  is 
the  god  of  this  world,  and  rules  in  the  children  of  disobedience,  is  that 
which  renders  the  true  Gospel  dark  and  mysterious,  and  obstructs  its 
progress  through  unbelief,  more  than  any  deficiency  of  evidence  at- 
tending it,  any  incapability  in  man  to  believe  on  the  authority  of  God, 
exhibited  in  the  Gospel,  or  any  decree  of  God  respecting  election  or 
reprobation  :  "  But  if  our  Gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost ; 
in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them  that  be- 
lieve not,  (and  for  this  very  reason,)  lest  the  light  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  shine  unto  them."  (2  Cor. 
iv.  3,  4.)  Now,  who  is  adventurous  enough  to  impeach  the  character 
of  the  true  God,  by  saying  that  his  decrees  limit  the  faith  of  those  who 
hear  the  Gospel .'  or  who  will  dare  attribute  thus  directly  to  God  the 
works  which  properly  belong  to  the  devil .'' 

"  For  there  are  certain  men  crept  in  unawares  who  were  before  of 
old  ordained  to  this  condemnation,  ungodly  men,  turning  the  grace  of 
God  into  lasciviousness,  and  denying  the  only  Lord  God,  and  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  (Jude  4.)  If  any  conclude  this  text  will  prove 
that  God  appointed  those  wicked  people  to  wrath,  without  respect  to 
their  character  or  works,  or  appointed  them  by  any  direct  decree  to 
the  perpetration  of  such  wickedness,  and  then  to  consequent  con- 
demnation, let  them  at  least  consider  that  the  translation  has  been  dis- 
covered to  be  erroneous  an  age  ago,  if  not  more.  The  word  translated 
ordained  \_i{^oyS'y^ci.^\tAvoi\  is  by  the  learned  Philip  Doddridge,  in  his  note 
on  this  passage,  rendered  registered.  It  simply  expresses  written  be- 
fore, and,  as  it  applies  to  evil  works  justly  condemned,  might  be  ren- 
dered by  the  English  word  proscribed  :  "  Who  were  of  old  proscribed 
to  this  condemnation."  Inasmuch  as  ungodly  men  have  long  been 
known  to  be  proscribed,  or  doomed  to  destruction,  thus  it  had  been 
long  foretold  that  destruction  would  be  the  end  of  such. 
13 


178  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

"  Who  stumble  at  the  word,  being  disobedient,  whereunto  also  they 
were  appointed."  It  is  not  strange  that  those  who  are  disobedient 
should  stumble  at  the  word  ;  this  is  according  to  the  appointment  and 
decree  of  God  ;  the  disobedient  are  all  appointed  to  that  issue.  "  And 
even  as  they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  God  gave 
them  over  to  a  reprobate  mind,  to  do  those  things  which  are  not  con- 
venient." "But  my  people  would  not  hearken  to  my  voice;  and 
Israel  would  none  of  me.  So  I  gave  them  up  to  their  own  hearts' 
lust;  and  they  walked  in  their  own  counsels."  (Rom.  i.  28;  Psa. 
Ixxxi.  11,  12.) 

"  At  that  time  Jesus  answered  and  said,  I  thank  thee,  O  Father, 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from 
the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes.  Eveft  so, 
Father  ;  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight."  (Matt.  xi.  25,  26.) 

How  great  must  be  the  thirst  for  partial,  limited  and  absolute  elec- 
tion in  those  who  can  feel  any  support  for  it  in  these  words  of  our 
Lord,  by  which  he  expressly  describes  characters,  and  not  a  limited 
or  definite  number  of  persons  !  It  is  argued  that  the  will  of  God 
once  made  known  is  enough  to  stop  every  mouth  and  silence  every 
tongue  into  humble  submission.  True  enough ;  for  God  cannot  will 
any  thing  wrong  ;  and  whenever  he  shall  tell  us  that  it  seemeth  good 
in  his  sight  that  some  men  should  not  be  saved,  who  are  no  more 
unworthy  according  to  their  own  true  character  and  works  than  they 
who  are  to  be  saved,  we  will  submit.  But  why  should  such  a  thought 
intrude  itself  into  these  sayings  which  teach  us  that  it  is  God's  will  to 
save  the  humble  ;  "  But  to  this  man  will  I  look,  even  to  him  that  is 
poor  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  trembleth  at  my  word."  (Isa.  Ixvi, 
2.)  Because  it  is  good  in  the  sight  of  God  to  stain  the  pride  of  all 
glory,  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence,  but  that  he  that  glo- 
rieth  should  glory  in  the  Lord,  and  that  men  must  be  converted  and 
become  as  little  children,  before  they  can  inherit  the  kingdom,  will 
that  exclude  any  soul  from  disclaiming  his  own  carnal  wisdom  and 
prudence,  and  stooping  low  enough  at  the  call  of  God  in  the  Gospel, 
to  learn  the  way  of  salvation  .''  These  words  of  Christ  exclude  none 
from  an  equal  privilege  in  the  salvation  of  God  ;  but  are  indeed  a 
solemn  and  gracious  warning  to  all  men  to  beware  of  the  wisdom  and 
prudence,  or, intelligence  of  this  world,  and  the  men  of  the  world, 
which  leads  them  away  from  the  humble  path  of  the  ministration 
and  salvation  of  Christ. 

"  Nevertheless,  the  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this 
seal,  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."  (2  Tim.  ii.  19.)  These 
words  seem  to  have  been  produced  by  Paul  to  Timothy,  to  support 
him  against  any  discouragement  or  burden,  which  might  be  occasioned 
by  the  error  of  certain  men  who  overthrew  the  faith  of  some,  saying 
that  the  resurrection  was  already  past ;  and  afford  weak  support  in- 
deed to  the  doctrine  of  particular  and  definite  election,  for  which  they 
are  used  ;  as  if  because  the  Lord  knoweth  who  are  faithful  to  him, 
(for  all  such  are  his  ;  and  this  cannot  be  reversed,)  and  will  take  care 
of  them  so  that  his  foundation,  or  covenant,  standeth  sure,  he  must 
therefore  have  appointed  a  particular  and  definite  number  of  the  hu- 
man race  to  eternal  life,  and  unalterably  left  the  rest  to  destruction, 
without  respect  to  their  obedience   or  disobedience  on  either  side. 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  179 

Strange  !  into  what  wild,  subterfuges  men  will  run  to   defend  that 
which  is  indefensible.     Thus,  say  they,  "  these  men,  thus  predesti- 
nated and  foreordained,  are  particularly  and  unchangeably  designed; 
and  their  number  is  so  certain  and  definite,  that  it  cannot  be  either 
increased,  or  diminished;"   (Confess.  3,  4.)   and  the  above  Scripture 
exhibited  as  proof.     But  that  text,  taken  in  its  connection,  will  not 
only  admit,  but  defend  a  very  different  doctrine.     "  Nevertheless  the 
foundation  of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this  seal ;  The  Lordknoweth 
them  that  are  his  ;  and,  Let  every  one  that  uameth  the  name  of  Christ 
depart  from  iniquity."     This  latter  clause  is  also  the  seal  of  God's 
foundation,  (or   covenant,  for  that  is  the  only  kind  of  foundation  to 
which  there  is  any  propriety  in  fixing  a  seal,)  as  much  as  the  former. 
The  foundation  of  God,  therefore,  is  secured  by  the  people's  depart- 
ing from  iniquity  as  much  as  by  the  Lord's  knowing  them  that  are  his. 
But  the   Apostle  adds  :  "  But  in  a  great  house  there  are  not  only 
vessels  of  gold  and  of  silver,  but   also   of  wood  and  of  earth ;  and 
some  to  honour  and  some  to  dishonour.     If  a  man  therefore  purge  him- 
self from  these,  he  shall  be  a  vessel  unto  honour,  sanctified,  and  meet 
for  the  master's  use,  prepared  unto  every  good  work."     Now  ever}'' 
vessel  in  the  house  is  either  to  honour  or  to  dishonovir  ;  and  to  pursue 
the  figure,  every  man  represented  by  these  vessels,  is  either  a  vessel 
to  honour  or  to  dishonour,  either  a  vessel  of  mercy  or  of  wrath.     If  a 
man  therefore  purge   himself  from  these,  he  shall   be  a  vessel   to 
honour.     But  a  man  cannot  purge  himself  from  that  with  which  he  is 
not  defiled,   or  which  doth  not  cleave  to  him.     The  man  therefore 
who  is  encouraged  to  purge  himself  from  these,  is  a  vessel  of  wrath, 
or  to  dishonour,  and  yet  he  is  admitted  to  become  a  vessel  of  honour 
fit  for  the  master's  use,  and  be  added  to  that  number.     And  thus, 
according  to  this  Scripture,  it  is  the  privilege  of  any  man  and  every 
man,  to  purge  himself  from  these,  to  purify  his  soul  in  obeying  the 
truth,  and  be  added  to  the  number  of  God's  elect ;  and  his  being  of 
that  number  depends,  proximately  and  ultimately,  on  his  thus  purify- 
ing himself  from  these.      Come  ye  out  from  among  tliem,  and  I  will  re- 
ceive you. 

For  why  should  such  encouragement  be  given,  or  why  such  an  in- 
junction, as  a  part  of  the  seal,  or  even  attached  to  the  seal  of  the 
foundation  of  God,  as,  "  Let  every  man  that  nameth  the  name  of 
Christ  depart  from  iniquity,"  if  the  elect  of  God,  or  those  included 
in  the  covenant,  be  personally  and  definitely  predestinated,  and  that 
too  without  respect  to  their  conduct,  with  such  precision  that  the 
number  can  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished }  If  all  things  be 
laid  out  by  absolute  decree  of  the  unchangeable  God,  and  every  man's 
lot  absolutely  fixed  in  that  decree,  to  what  purpose  are  the  warnings, 
the  threatenings,  the  exhortations,  the  counsels,  and  the  various 
awakening  expostulations  to  men,  to  flee  from  the  wi*ath  to  come,  to 
escape  to  the  refuge  and  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  them,  to 
save  themselves  from  this  untoward  generation,  to  give  diligence, 
(even  after  they  have  believed,)  to  make  their  calling  and  election 
sure,  [/3£/3ai'av,J  firm,  and  not  tottering?  I  say,  why  these  labours  to 
secure  that  which  is  absolutely  secured  by  unchangeable  decree  and 
irresistible  power,  to  a  definite,  specified  number,  and  unalterably  out 
of  the  reach  of  the  rest  ever  to  obtain  or  inherit  ? 


180  OF  ELECTION  AND  FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

Because,  say  tliey,  the  end  being  appointed,  the  means  are  also 
appointed  to  secure  that  end ;  and  for  elucidation  the  case  of  Paul 
in  the  shipwreck  has  been  introduced.  The  angel  of  God  stood 
by  him,  "  saying,  Fear  not,  Paul,  thou  must  be  brought  before  Gsesar  ; 
and  lo,  God  hath  given  thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee  ;"  and 
Paul  said  to  the  people,  "  There  shall  be  no  loss  of  life  among  you." 
But  when  the  shipmen  were  about  to  escape  out  of  the  ship,  "  Paul 
said  to  the  centurion  and  to  the  soldiers,  Except  these  abide  in 
the  ship  ye  cannot  be  saved."  But  cannot  the  people  see,  that  the 
preservation  of  their  lives  depended  absolutely  on  the  proper  means, 
so  that  a  neglect  would  have  cost  their  lives  and  forfeited  the  pro- 
mise }  "  Except  these  abide  in  the  ship  ye  cannot  be  saved.'''' 
What !  did  not  God  promise  to  save  all  ?  Yea  ;  but  not  without 
those  exertions  and  attention  to  duty  on  which  that  salvation  de- 
pended. 

And  again  :  what  hath  this  instance  to  do  with  the  promise  of  sal- 
vation by  the  Gospel.?  Here  was  a  promise  of  a  certain  number, 
without  passing  any  by ;  all  were  to  share  alike  ;  but  in  the  promise 
of  life  by  the  Gospel,  although  the  gift  is  made,  or  tendered  to  all  in- 
discriminately, every  man's  salvation  depends  eventually  on  his  com- 
plying with  the  terms  expressly  stated;  and  in  that  condition  the 
Gospel  is  universally  preached. 

Query.  Did  God  appoint  those  means  which  are  to  effect  the  sal- 
vation of  the  elect,  to  effect  the  salvation  also  of  the  non-elect,  which 
he  knew  never  could  be  gained,  according  to  his  own  absolute  decree .'' 
If  so,  why  does  he  strive  against  his  own  plan,  and  then  charge  his 
creatures  with  the  sin  of  these  strivings  not  succeeding  in  their  sal- 
vation ? — Nero-like,  who  burned  the  city  of  Rome,  and  then  charged 
it  on  the  Christians  and  destroyed  them  in  revenge.  But  who  can 
brook  such  thoughts  of  the  Holy  and  Gracious  God  !  But  if  those 
means  are  not  sent  to  effect  the  salvation  of  the  non-elect,  why  are 
such  messages  and  expostulations  sent  to  mankind  indiscriminately, 
with  the  full  assurance  of  salvation  and  eternal  life  to  those  who  com- 
ply, and  increased  condemnation  and  wrath  to  those  who,  according 
to  the  real  merits  of  that  plan,  are  by  the  decrees  of  God  excluded 
from  believing .'' 

Why  did  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  weep  over  Jerusalem  ?  "  And 
when  he  was  come  near  he  beheld  the  city,  and  wept  over  it,  saying, 
If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things 
which  belong  to  thy  peace  !  but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes." 
"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  andstonest 
them  who  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her 
wings,  and  ye  would  not.?"  (Luke  ix.  41,  42;  Matt,  xxiii.  37.) 
Say,  would  he  have  gathered  them  ?  He  came  down  from  heaven 
not  to  do  his  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father  who  sent  him  ; 
and  -  he  sought  not  his  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father  who  sent 
him  ;  and  would  he  have  gathered  them  by  the  Father's  will,  when 
the  Father  had  fixed,  by  absolute  decree,  that  all  things  should  be 
with  them  just  as  they  were  ?  If  he  would  not  have  gathered 
them,  his  lamentation  was  a  mere  hypocritical  parade,  inconsistent 
with  the  heavenly  spirit  of  him  whom  zeal  for  his  Father's  house  had 


OF  ELECTION  AND  FOREKNOWLEDGE.  181 

eaten  up.  But  if  he  would  have  gathered  them,  of  which  there  ex- 
ists no  cause  to  doubt,  and  they  would  not,  their  own  will,  choice,  or 
determination,  was  the  pivot  on  which  their  state  was  ultimately  to 
turn,  independently  of  any  absolute  decree  in  the  case  ;  and  so  of  all 
others. 

But  some,  to  alleviate  the  matter,  will  grant,  or  rather  plead,  that 
the  decrees  of  election  are  not  so  absolute,  but  that  if  any  one  of  the 
non-elect  would  comply  with  the  offers  of  salvation,  God  would  ac- 
cept of  him  ;  for,  say  they,  whosoever  will  may  come  ;  but  that  they 
will  not  comply,  the  fault  therefore  is  their  own — they  are  not  to  be 
influenced  by  the  secret  decrees  of  God — it  is  their  duty  to  close  in 
with  the  Gospel  offers.  And  why  will  they  not  .^  Because  they  can- 
not without  the  special  and  saving  agency  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  which 
he  has  decreed,  at  least  negatively,  though  absolutely,  never  to  give 
them.  This,  however,  is  undeniable  ;  that  the  elect  of  God  and  the 
decrees  designating  them,  are  either  absolute,  or  they  are  not.  If 
absolute,  they  are  unconditional ;  and  the  man  who  finally  rejects 
the  Gospel  is  condemned  to  eternal  wrath,  as  a  despiser  of  Christ 
and  of  the  mercy  of  God  in  him,  without  respect  to  his  works  whether 
good  or  evil ;  and  all  his  most  assiduous  endeavours  to  obtain  salva- 
tion are  lost  and  worse,  the  primary  and  unalterable  cause  of  which 
is,  that  God  by  his  decrees  has  not  included  him  in  the  number  of 
the  elect.  Nay,  say  some,  the  primary  cause  of  his  condemnation  is 
his  being  a  sinner.  But  is  he  primarily  any  more  a  sinner  than  the 
elect  ?  And  is  not  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  Gospel  offers  made  to 
him,  though  he  were  the  greatest  of  sinners,  to  save  him  from  being 
a  sinner  ?  Should  the  Gospel  find  any  who  are  not  sinners,  what 
would  it  have  to  do  with  them  ?  The  whole  need  not  the  physician, 
but  the  sick.  This,  therefore,  is  a  vain  argument,  as  well  as  expli- 
citly contrary  to  Scripture  ;  for  he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned 
because  he  has  not  believed,  and  not  because  he  was  a  sinner  before. 
It  is  also  vain  to  all  intents  to  plead  that  they  who  honestly  seek  sal- 
vation will  find  it,  while  it  is  maintained  that  the  elect  only  will  be 
saved,  the  number  of  whom  is  definite  and  special,  for  it  will  ever  re- 
turn that  man's  compliance  with  the  Gospel  is  limited  by  God's 
decrees,  and  such  a  sentiment  necessarily  lays  an  embarrassment 
in  the  way  of  souls  seeking  salvation.  It  is  also  preposterously  beg- 
ging the  question,  to  plead  that  men  ought  not  to  be  influenced  in 
their  practice  by  the  secrets  of  God,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all 
to  close  in  with  the  Gospel  ;  for  if  the  doctrine  of  particular  elec- 
tion be  true,  and  revealed  as  its  advocates  say,  it  is  no  longer  a  se- 
cret and  ought  to  have  its  natural  influence  ;  else  why  do  they 
preach  it,  and  persuade  others  to  believe  it ;  and  it  will  have  its 
effects  where  it  is  believed  ;  for  a  man's  impression  of  mind  and  his 
works  will  be  according  to  his  faith.  It  will  discourage  the  awaken- 
ed, and  harden  them  in  unprofitable  and  melancholy  distress,  filling 
them  with  unnecessary  terror,  and  benumb  the  careless  into  a  stupid 
insensibility. 

But  it  is  not  definitely  revealed  who  are  the  elect,  and  therefore  all 
ought  to  comply  with  the  hope  of  being  accepted.  And  what  then  ? 
the  non-elect  must  all  eventually  be  sentenced  to  wrath,  because  not 
elected,  after  being  vainly  encouraged  to  hope  by  a  message  from  God 


182  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

himself.  For  the  fatal  destiny  of  the  non-elect  is  none  the  less  cer- 
tain by  its  being  a  secret  to  them,  while  the  number  of  the  elect  is 
definite  and  cannot  be  increased. 

J  need  not  consume  time  to  represent  the  horrid  nature  of  such 
sentiments  ;  the  single  glance  is  too  horrid  for  any  unbiassed  heart  to 
brook — any  heart  not  unaffected  with  the  miseries  of  the  human  fa- 
mily. To  suppose  that  God  had  selected  a  part  of  the  human  race 
to  eternal  life  and  had  given  a  definite  account  of  them,  so  that  the 
non-elect  had  never  had  any  offer,  neither  been  deceived  with  any 
vain  hope,  nor  chargeable  with  the  sin  of  rejecting  God's  offers, 
would  be  to  suppose  that  which  is  incompatible  with  his  character ; 
but  as  things  are  now  represented,  language  fails  to  point  out  the 
enormity  and  the  utmost  sensibility  of  the  heart  to  paint  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  decrees  of  God,  relating  to  election,  be 
not  absolute,  and  the  number  specified  as  well  as  definite,  to  the  final 
exclusion  of  all  the  rest,  they  are  conditional,  and  the  numbering  of 
every  man  among  the  elect  of  God  rests  on  his  own  personal  choice  ; 
and  that  choice  to  be  made  without  any  other  aid  than  that  which  is 
ministered  with  equal  freedom  to  all  who  hear  the  Gospel.  For  there 
is  no  medium  in  the  case  ;  every  man's  election  is  either  conditional 
or  absolute.  And  the  idea  of  absolute  decrees  of  that  nature  is  so 
horrid  and  gloomy,  that  I  think  no  wonder  that  some,  even  of  the 
abettors  of  the  plan,  have  objected  to  the  term.  But  where  is  the 
wise  man  ?  where  is  the  philosopher  }  where  is  the  disputer  of  this 
world,  who  can  show  the  middle  path  between  absolute  and  conditional 
decrees  .''     The  man,  the  angel  is  not  extant. 

The  argument  against  a  partial  election,  drawn  from  the  inequality 
and  injustice  of  God's   dealings  with  his  creatiu-es,  on  that  view,  is 
commonly  rebutted  with  this,  that  God  was  under  no  obligation  to 
save  any  of  the  fallen  race,  and  therefore  the  non-elect  have  no  cause 
of  complaint,  no  injustice  being  done  to  them.     This  method  of  rea- 
soning is  no  doubt  specious  and  plausible  with  many  ;  but  it  is  a  most 
preposterous  subversion  of  the  truth  ;  it  lays,  or  supposes,  an  im- 
proper ground  of  argument,  darkens  counsel  by  specious  words  with- 
out knowledge,  misrepresents  the  character  of  God  and  contradicts 
revelation.     For  it  denies  any  rule  of  right,  any  justice,  any  goodness, 
mercy  or  compassion,  as  being  essentially  in  God  :  especially  when 
we  consider  that  they  who  use  this  reasoning  also   assert,  that  man 
fell  into  sin  according  to  the  determinate  appointment  and  decree  of 
God.     It  represents  God  as  an  arbitrary  sovereign,  or  despot,  whose 
volitions  are  only  sovereign,  without  respect  to  any  necessary  and  es- 
sential rule  of  rectitude, goodness  or  mercy  to  his  dependent  creatures. 
But  the  essential  and  unchano-eable  nature  of  God  is  to  will  the  sal- 
vation  of  all ;  so  that  nothing  can  prevent  any,  except  their  own  dis- 
obedience, or  rejection  of  his  grace,  uninfluenced  thereto  by  any  of 
God's  appointments  or  decrees.     God  is  "  not  willing  that  any  should 
perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repentance."     "  Who  will  have 
all  men  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.'* 
And  according  to  this  his  will,  he  sent  the  Mediator,  Jesus  Christ, 
"  who  gave  himself,  a  ransom  for  all,  to  be  testified  in  due  time.'* 
(2  Pet.  iii.  9;  1  Tim.  ii.  4,  6.) 
But  God  in  his  own  essential  nature,  and  according  to  his  necessary 


OF  ELECTION  AND  FOREKNOWLEDGE.  183 

existence,  is  under  infinite  and  irresistible  obligation,  or  to  speak  in 
language  more  appropriate  to  God,  it  is  a  necessary  emanation  of  his 
nature  to  have  compassion  on  his  creatures,  and  therefore  to  provide 
a  remedy,  and  in  the  progress  of  the  work  to  bring  it  within  the  reach 
of  every  individual,  withovit  partiality,  preference  or  passing  by,  ex- 
cept in  consideration  of  the  real  character  or  conduct  of  the  subject, 
as  much  as  to  punish  sin  or  to  reward  obedience.  Neither  does  this 
view  of  the  subject  make  God  accountable  to  his  creatures  ;  the  per- 
fect rule  of  rectitude  is  in  himself,  infinitely  wise,  holy,  just  and  good  ; 
neither  need  any  reply  against  God,  nor  will  any  of  those  who  under- 
stand his  ways  which  are  just  and  equal. 

But  God  is  under  no  obligation  to  adapt  the  plan  of  salvation  to 
the  feelings  of  men.  It  is  his  own  prerogative  to  lay  out  the  plan 
and  our  province  to  obey  ;  although  it  is  impossible  that  God  should 
lay  out  any  plan  except  that  which  is  most  wise,  just  and  holy,  and 
best  calculated  to  efi"ectuate  the  purpose.  If,  therefore,  any  ask. 
What  plea  or  claim  has  a  sinner,  or  non-elect,  on  the  justice  of  God  ? 
we  answer,  He  has  a  claim,  or  plea,  equal  to  all  the  justice  which 
is  in  God,  and  to  his  own  capacity  to  use  it,  provided  he  will  use  his 
plea  according  to  justice — a  plea,  equal  to  all  the  justice  contained 
in  the  overtures  of  peace  and  reconciliation  set  forth  in  the  Gospel — 
a  plea,  equal  to  all  the  justice,  love  and  mercy,  exhibited  in  the  un- 
limited promises  made  to  all  who  will  comply  with  the  terms,  with 
full  assurance  that  he  died  for  all  without  exception  ;  provided  the 
sinner  will  submit  to  use  his  plea  according  to  the  condition  of  the 
promises,  which  requires  every  man  to  confess  and  forsake  his  sins, 
and  live  the  life  of  Christ :  a  condition  not  impracticable  by  those 
who  have  the  Gospel.  It  would  seem  from  the  writings  of  the  abet- 
tors of  a  partial  election,  that  they  entirely  forget  that  the  Gospel  is  a 
remedy  provided  for  the  express  purpose  of  redeeming  mankind  from 
their  fallen  and  ruined  state,  and  is  adapted  in  all  things  to  their  help- 
less and  necessitous  condition  ;  provided  for  all,  seeing  all  were  dead 
and  Christ  died  for  all ;  and  ofi"ered  to  all,  without  limitation,  dis- 
tinction or  preference,  and  that  God  has  pledged  his  veracity  and  his 
life  for  the  safety  of  all  alike,  only  let  them  submit  to  the  Gospel. 

But  might  not  God,  consistently  with  the  unsullied  rectitude  of  his 
own  nature,  choose  some  as  his  peculiar  elect,  and  predestinate  them 
to  eternal  life,  and  in  the  execution  of  his  plan,  give  them,  not  only 
the  ordinary  means  of  grace,  but  that  special  aid,  without  which  nei- 
ther they  nor  any  others  would  ever  become  subjects  of  salvation, 
and  at  the  same  time  leave  the  rest  without  that  special  aid,  as  being 
by  no  means  obliged  to  give  it  to  any,  to  reap  the  fruit  of  their  own 
doings  in  rejecting  the  ofi"ers  made  to  them,  so  that  they  are  without 
excuse,  these  things  being  done  by  the  sovereignty  of  God  without 
regard  to  character  or  works  .''  The  answer  is  decidedly  in  the  nega- 
tive in  every  part.  For  first ;  If  God  created  man  a  fallible  crea- 
ture, as  it  could  not  be  otherwise,  and  chose  by  his  own  sovereign 
appointment  to  not  prevent  his  fall,  but  to  leave  him  exposed  to  those 
trifds  which  he  knew  would  certainly  effect  his  overthrow,  it  was  im- 
possible that  he  should  not  provide  a  remedy  furnished  with  all  the 
aid  for  man,  necessary  to  his  becoming  a  partaker,  and  bring  it  within 
Ms  reach  in  his  fallen  state,  before  man  can  be  inexcusable.    And  with- 


184  OF  ELECTION  AND  FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

out  sucli  a  remedy  the  rectitude  and  glory  of  God's  character  must  have 
been  for  ever  tarnished.  And  secondly  ;  Those  means  of  grace,  so 
called,  which  are  not  sufficient  to  ensure  the  certainty  of  salvation, 
have  no  right  to  that  name.  To  call  the  Gospel  the  means  of  grace 
and  salvation,  and  then  say  that  sinners  who  are  privileged  with  it  are 
inexcusable  when  they  are  not  saved  by  it,  and  then  to  presume  that 
the  special  agency  of  the  Spirit,  some  way  distinct  from  the  Gospel, 
or  in  addition  to  it,  is  necessary,  before  any  can  believe  and  close  in 
with  the  Gospel  offers,  is  to  charge  God  with  contriving  a  crafty 
scheme  to  destroy  man  under  the  specious  pretext  that  he  is  guilty  of 
rejecting  his  own  life  and  neglecting  his  duty  when  he  is  not :  for 
duty  implies  capability.  Thus  God  is  represented  as  a  mocker  of 
man's  miseries  and  regardless  of  his  sufferings.  And  man  is  repre- 
sented as  being  without  excuse  wherein  he  is  not ;  while,  under  this 
specious  pretext,  cruelty  is  discovered  in  all,  or  at  least  the  most  im- 
portant works  of  God  towards  men. 

Hear  the  language  of  a  strenuous  abettor  of  a  partial  election :  "  It 
woLild  be  impossible  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  the  divine  government 
in  exacting  duties  by  law  from  rational  creatures  which  they  were  na- 
turally unable  to  perform.  And  it  must  be  forever  inconsistent  to 
say  that  a  moral  governor  still  has  a  right  to  demand  obedience  in  any 
one  thing  when  the  subject  has  no  power  to  perform  it.  A  man  never 
possibly  can  be  under  the  least  obligations  to  do  what  he  cannot  do  ; 
and  there  is  nothing  in  which  rigorous  austerity,  cruel  tyranny  and  arbi- 
tary  and  unreasonable  injustice  could  appear  more  evident  than  to  re- 
quire any  such  thing."  But  the  pretext  is  that  man's  inability  is 
moral,  and  therefore  inexcusable.  "  It  is  meant,"  says  he,  "  that  we 
are  naturally  as  well  as  morally  unable  to  believe  or  to  obey  the  Gos- 
pel." And  again:  "  Our  moral  power,  as  it  is  called,  or  more  pro- 
perly our  inclination  or  choice  as  to  what  is  good,  we  have  lost ;  and 
here  lies  the  whole  mystery.  We  are  really,  fully  and  completely 
able  to  believe  in  Christ  but  we  are  not  disposed  to  do  it.  Inasmuch 
therefore  as  the  non-elect  will  not  believe  in  Christ  when  he  is  freely 
offered  unto  them,  when  they  are  really  able -to  do  it  and  nothing  to 
hinder  them  but  their  own  evil  disposition,  they  stand  justly  liable  to 
condemnation  and  are  entirely  inexcusable."  (See  Gos.  Plan,  pp. 
126,  127.     By  W.  C.  Davis.) 

But  this  is  only  begging  the  question  ;  for  if  my  moral  inability  or 
evil  disposition  be  immoveable  by  me,  and  I  do  not  receive  help  suffi- 
cient to  overcome  it  either  by  the  Gospel  or  some  other  way,  and  God, 
who  alone  can,  will  not  overcome  it  for  me,  I  am  as  completely  in- 
capable of  believing  and  obeying  the  Gospel  as  if  I  were  destitute  of 
natural  power  or  had  none  of  the  constitutional  or  moral  faculties.  It 
is  therefore  incompatible  with  God's  perfect  rectitude  to  appoint  one 
man  or  some  men  to  eternal  life,  by  a  sovereign  purpose  or  decree, 
and  to  leave  others  to  perish  without  regard  to  the  character,  faith  or 
works  of  either  class,  and  then  condemn  the  non-elect  on  the  principle 
of  not  believing  and  obeying  the  Gospel.     Besides, 

Thirdly  ;  It  is  a  glaring  inconsistency,  a  very  contradiction  of  ideas, 
to  say  or  suppose  that  God  has  elected  and  predestinated  to  eternal 
life,  a  certain  definite  and  exclusive  number  with  all  the  means  neces- 
sary to  their  inbringing  and  perfecting  in  salvation,  by  an  act  of  his 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  185 

own  sovereign  will  or  purpose,  and  passed  by  others  to  reraain  under 
necessary  condemnation  and  wrath,  which  they  cannot  escape  without 
that  necessary  aid  which  he  gives  to  the  elect  but  not  to  the  rest,  and 
all  without  making  any  account,  in  adjusting  his  decrees,  of  the  faith, 
works  or  character  of  either,  and  after  all  will  condemn  the  finally 
impenitent,  that  is,  the  non-elect,  to  eternal  wrath  because  they  have 
not  believed  and  obeyed  the  Gospel.  That  kind  of  election  therefore 
is  impossible,  because  inconsistent  with  the  rectitude  of  God's  nature, 
who  is  not  only  a  God  of  truth  but  of  propriety.     Again, 

Fourthly ;  If  the  loss  which  man  sustained  by  the  fall,  or  his  pres- 
ent inability,  or  lack  of  power,  be  moral  and  not  natural,  the  remedy 
or  salvation  from  that  inability  must  be  moral  also,  or  capable  of  fur- 
nishing him  with  moral  power  to  obey  God  according  to  whatever  he 
requires  of  man  ;  otherwise  the  remedy  is  ineifectual  and  null.  Now 
the  Gospel  is  either  furnished  with  adequate  power  and  efl&cacy  to  re- 
move all  moral  inability,  and  render  men  capable  of  believing  and 
obeying,  or  it  is  not.  If  not,  it  is  of  no  use  to  mankind,  elect  or  non- 
elect  ;  they  must  all  die  in  their  sins  or  be  saved  by  some  other 
means  ;  and  the  Gospel  is  a  very  mockery  of  the  miseries  of  men  by 
offering  them  life  when  it  is  not  capable  of  effecting  it.  But  if  the 
Gospel  is  furnished  with  all  the  necessary  help  to  overcome  or  remove 
the  moral  inability  or  evil  disposition  and  gain  the  souls  of  men  to  be- 
lieve and  obey  to  eternal  life,  including  the  sure  promise  to  all  such, 
of  all  necessary  supplies  on  the  way,  which  is  the  truth,  and  if  it  is 
preached  to  all  without  exception,  reserve  or  preference,  which  is  also 
truth,  and  if  the  justification  of  the  one  and  the  condemnation  of  the 
other  turn  on  this  pivot,  he  that  believeth  including  obedience,  is  not 
condemned,  but  he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already  because 
he  has  not  believed,  (not  because  he  was  not  elected,)  there  is  no 
room  for  that  partial  and  exclusive  election  for  which  men  contend. 

Fifthly;  For  God  to  have  ordained  some  to  eternal  life,  and  others, 
if  negatively  yet  certainly  and  unalterably,  to  condemnation  and  eter- 
nal wrath,  without  regard  to  the  character,  faith  or  works  of  either 
class,  is  inconsistent  with  the  overtures  of  the  Gospel  as  provided  for 
fallen  mankind  in  their  ruined  condition,  and  a  specific  remedy  for 
their  disease,  which  was  introduced  by  the  fall.  For  these  overtures 
declare  that  the  grace  of  God  brings  salvation  to  all,  (Tit.  ii.  11,)  ac- 
cording to  the  Greek  text  and  the  marginal  reading ;  that  Christ  died  for 
all ;  that  he  lasted  death  for  every  man  ;  that  he  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for 
all;  and  he  invites  «// the  needy  to  come,  without  preference  or  reserve. 

But  these  things  are  not  proposed  or  allowed  to  contradict,  that 
God  who  knows  the  make  of  his  creatures,  and  the  effect  of  sin 
upon  them,  and  what  influence  the  Gospel  would  have,  being  planned 
according  to  his  own  infinite  wisdom,  and  well  adapted  to  the  recov- 
ery of  mankind  from  ruin,  should  have  recognized  in  his  eternal 
counsels,  (or  decreed,  if  that  phrase  be  more  acceptable  than  recog- 
nized,) whom  he  would  first  apprehend  by  the  Gospel,  it  being  exactly 
calculated  to  catch  them  in  the  condition  in  which  it  would  find  them, 
according  to  his  counsel  and  appointment,  (for  I  am  by  no  means 
averse  to  God's  working  by  a  correct  plan,)  and  whom  he  would  first 
send  forth  to  lead  the  way  and  be  helpers  to  others,  and  then  to  whom 
he  would  adapt  the  ministration  of  the  Gospel  to  apprehend  more. 


186  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

always  recognizing  the  condition  of  the  inward  man,  and  who  would 
be  most  likely  to  receive  the  truth,  as  well  as  whom  it  will  answer 
best  to  apprehend  and  take  first,  and  so  moving  forward  in  his  work 
until  all  have  a  fair  and  impartial  trial  of  those  means  which  furnish 
sufiicient  power  of  salvation,  that  is,  sufficient  authority  and  power  to 
believe  and  obey  the  Gospel ;  and  the  salvation  of  one,  and  con- 
demnation of  another  must  turn  on  the  accepting  or  the  rejecting  of 
each  for  himself.  "  Whom  he  did  foreknow  he  also  did  predestinate 
to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son,  and  whom  he  predestinated 
he  also  called,  and  whom  he  called  he  also  justified,  and  whom  he 
justified,  he  also  glorified."  And  he  has  "predestinated  us  to  the 
adoption  of  children  through  Jesus  Christ  to  himself,  according  to  the 
good  pleasure  of  his  will;"  as  has  been  stated  above. 

The  discerning  will  understand,  that  I  am  not  speaking  of  any 
conditionality  in  the  decrees  of  God  respecting  the  sending  of  his 
Son  to  redeem  lost  men  ;  or  in  the  terms  of  redemption  to  which  they 
have  to  come  ;  as,  "He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved, 
and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned  ;"  or  that  salvation  is  in 
Christ  alone,  for  those  who  come  unto  him  in  truth  and  not  in  name, 
walking  as  he  walked,  and  for  none  else.  These  and  such  like  decrees 
are  absolute  and  unconditional ;  for  without  an  absolutely  sure  founda- 
tion, as  well  as  special  conditions  imequivocally  stipulated,  the  Church 
could  not  be  built  with  stability,  neither  could  those  who  come  find 
unshaken  confidence.  But  the  result  of  the  Gospel  overtures,  even- 
tuating in  each  individual  a  savour  of  life  or  of  death  depends  from 
first  to  last  on  his  own  choice  ;  "Wherefore  also  it  is  contained  in 
the  Scriptures  ;  Behold,  I  lay  in  Zion  a  chief  corner-stone,  elect, 
precious  ;  and  he  that  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  confounded." 
(1  Pet.  ii.  6.)  This  renders  the  whole  equitable  and  fair  ;  and  opens 
to  every  man  the  pure  fountain  of  the  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal, 
whence  flow  these  and  the  like  unmingled  streams  of  pure  Gospel : 
"  If  a  man  purge  himself  from  these  he  shall  be  a  vessel  to  honour, 
sanctified,  and  meet  for  the  master's  use,  prepared  to  every  good 
work."  "  Wherefore  come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate, 
saith  the  Lord,  touch  not  the  unclean  thing  ;  and  I  will  receive  you, 
and  will  be  a  Father  to  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters, 
saith  the  Lord  Almighty." 

But  the  notion  of  the  absolute  election  of  a  definite  number  of 
specified  individuals,  contradicts  the  breathings  of  the  Spirit  not  only 
in  the  free,  generous  and  unreserved  calls  and  invitations  of  the  Gos- 
pel, but  in  the  influence  of  the  same  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  all  God's 
children.  Was  it  the  Spirit  or  faith  of  an  absolutely  definite  election 
which  led  the  apostles  to  preach  as  they  did.?  "Warning  every 
man,  and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom  :  that  we  may  present 
every  man  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  whereunto  I  also  labour,  striving 
according  to  his  working  which  worketh  in  me  mightily."  "For  the 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  ;  because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one 
died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead  ;  and  that  he  died  for  all,  that  they 
who  live  should  not  henceforth  live  to  themselves,  but  to  him  who 
died  for  them  and  rose  again."  (Col.  i.  28,  29  ;  2  Cor.  v.  14,  15.) 
But  I  need  not  multiply  examples  ;  the  breathings  of  the  Spirit  in 
Jesus,  in  the  prophets,  in  the  apostles,  and  in  all  who  are  born  of  the 


OP    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  187 

Spirit,  and  many  who  were  not  born  of  God,  who  have  experienced 
a  degree  of  the  same  influence,  bear  in  direct  opposition  to  the  notion 
of  a  limited  election,  or  an  elect  circumscribed  by  any  thing  one  side 
of  there  being  no  more  souls  to  be  saved  or  their  refusing  to  come  in. 

I  doubt  not  but  many  of  the  circumstances  which  have  been  here 
stated,  as  unavoidably  arising  from  the  doctrine  of  an  unconditional 
and  limited  election,  will  make  many  of  the  abettors  of  that  doctrine 
recoil  from  them  with  abhorrence — no  doubt,  but  many  of  them  feel 
sensibly,  according  to  their  understanding  of  things,  for  the  miseries 
of  the  human  family — no  doubt,  but  the  operations  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  which  many  of  them  feel  at  times,  bear  right  against  the  beloved 
doctrine  of  a  particular  and  limited  election — but  the  pertinacity  of 
education  prevails  against  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Ye  do  always  resist 
the  Holy  Spirit.  No  doubt  but  many  will  be  inclined  to  reprobate 
us  as  being  foremost  in  blaspheming  God,  because  we  have  so  freely 
shown  how  cruelly  the  doctrines  which  we  oppose  tarnish  his  character. 
But  we  cannot  help  those  charges  ;  we  endure  all  things  for  the 
Gospel's  sake,  and  that  the  purity  of  God's  character  may  finally 
appear  in  glory,  to  the  acknowledgment  of  all.  If  it  is  blasphemy  to 
impute  iniquity  and  cruelty  to  God,  it  is  blasphemy  to  patronize  those 
doctrines  which  imply  these  things.  But  it  is  not  blasphemy  to  ex- 
pose those  doctrines  which  contain  such  implications.  If  it  be  iniquity 
to  charge  God  falsely,  it  is  not  iniquity  to  declare  his  righteousness 
and  to  show  that  the  way  of  the  Lord  is  equal. 

No  doubt  many  will  plead  that  the  enmity  of  the  heart  against 
God,  and  the  want  of  reconciliation  to  his  government,  are  the 
source  of  all  the  objections  against  this  doctrine  ;  for  it  has  been 
argued,  that  men  will  always  object  until  the  heart  becomes  recon- 
ciled to  God,  or  until  they  find  that  they  are  of  the  number  who 
are  thus  highly  favoured  by  the  distinguishing  grace  of  God,  but 
when  that  is  efi"ected  they  will  understand  the  whole  matter,  see  its 
consistency  and  its  justice,  be  at  peace  with  God  and  reconciled  to 
his  ways.  Now,  just  consider  what  this  plan  teaches — that  when  a 
man  becomes  a  Christian,  he  is  regardless  of  the  welfare  of  his  fellow- 
men — is  reconciled  that  God  should  have  elected  a  certain  specified 
number  to  eternal  life,  and  reprobated  all  the  rest,  the  millions  of 
the  non-elect,  to  eternal  damnation,  without  previous  regard  to  the 
character  of  either.  But  by  whom  did  God  ever  teach  that  men  be- 
come reconciled  to  him  by  the  most  contracted  selfishness  }  What 
heart  can  acquiesce  in  the  plan,  and  contemplate  it  without  shud- 
dering .'  Not  one.  Who  of  the  advocates  of  the  plan  can  view  it 
without  wishing  it  were  not  so  .''  Not  one  ;  unless  they  who  have  no 
share  in  the  divine  character,  whose  hearts  are  relentless  to  the  mis- 
eries or  the  happiness  of  the  human  race.  And  if  any  one  feels  any, 
the  least  pain  or  compunction  in  the  contemplation,  is  he  reconciled.? 
Every  man  of  discernment  knows  he  is  not.  Thousands,  through 
the  pertinacity  of  education  and  prepossession,  profess  to  be  recon- 
ciled when  they  are  far  from  it.  And  no  wonder,  when  reconcilia- 
tion cannot  be  gained  unless  by  selfishness  in  the  abstract.  And  is 
this  the  spirit  which  a  man  receives  by  becoming  a  Christian  .? — infi- 
nitely selfish  ! — regardless  of  truth,  justice  or  propriety  towards  other 
men,  or  of  their   happiness,  provided  he  is  safe  !     And  is  this  the 


188  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

Spirit  of  God  wliicli  lie  has  received  in  Christ  ?  Then,  what  a  re- 
presentation does  this  give  of  God!  Infinitely  selfish!  infinitely  re- 
gardless of  justice,  or  of  the  happiness  of  his  creatures  !  But  let  us 
conceal  the  horrid  prospect — let  us  cover  the  blasphemous  thought 
— and  veil  the  gloom  from  the  heart  of  mortals — from  the  mind  of 
all  men  whom  we  would  invite  to  love  and  approve  the  character  and 
works  of  God. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of  this  doctrine,  accustomed  to 
strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel,  often  teach,  that  for  a  man  to  be 
moved  to  do  the  will  of  God  by  a  respect  to  the  recompense  of  re- 
ward is  selfish,  not  evangelical,  and  that  God  will  not  accept  it.  But 
if  so,  God  and  his  ministers,  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  have  taught 
mankind  to  be  selfish  indeed,  who  have  always  presented  the  crown 
of  righteousness  and  glory,  the  reward  of  safety  and  eternal  life,  as  a 
motive  of  obedience  ;  as  shown  in  its  place.  But  there  is  no  more 
selfishness  in  a  man's  seeking  his  own  happiness  on  proper  principles, 
or  in  having  respect  to  the  recompense  of  reward,  than  in  God's 
claiming  the  honour  justly  due  to  his  name.  Selfishness  envies  the 
happiness  of  others  ;  claims  the  pre-eminence,  even  where  there  is 
no  ground  of  preference ;  seeks  the  same  temper  in  God,  and  calls 
for  a  special  election  to  the  exclusion  of  others.  But  the  mind  of 
God  is  not  so  ;  his  love  is  free  to  all ;  and  he  is  not  willing  that  any 
should  perish,  but  that  all  shoiild  come  to  repentance. 

Likely  many  other  Scriptures  may  be  alleged  in  vindication  of  a 
limited  and  absolute  election  which  I  have  not  noticed ;  but  I  have 
intentionally  considered  those  which  appeared  to  me  the  most  conspi- 
cuous, and  which  I  have  most  commonly  heard  insisted  on  by  the  abet- 
tors of  that  doctrine.  Other  arguments  also  might  be  adduced  on 
the  other  side ;  some  of  which  have  been  stated  in  opening  the  doc- 
trines of  faith  and  the  suitableness  of  the  Gospel,  where  they  answer 
the  same  purpose.  For,  to  maintain  the  incapability  of  mankind  to 
believe  the  Gospel  on  its  own  authority,  or,  which  is  the  same,  on  the 
authority  of  God  therein  contained,  is  implicitly,  if  not  confessedly, 
to  maintain  an  absolute  and  limited  election  ;  because  if  no  man  can 
believe  the  Gospel  until  God  in  his  own  appointed  time,  as  they  speak, 
give  him  faith,  or  do  that  work  which  will  enable  him  to  believe,  that 
time  must  be  definitely  set  for  all  who  ever  believe  and  the  niimber  be- 
comes definite  and  limited. 

But  the  carnally  minded,  willing  to  justify  themselves,  to  shelter 
themselves  from  the  edge  of  truth,  and  to  ward  off  the  necessity  of 
entering  on  the  path  of  obedience  to  God,  and  of  vigorously  laying 
hold  on  eternal  life,  will  plead,  that  if  God  has  not  unalterably  de- 
creed the  character  and  final  state  of  every  man,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  he  knows  all  things  with  certainty,  and  that  the  event  with  every 
man  will  be  according  to  that  knowledge  which  God  has  of  him  from 
the  beginning  ;  some  also  are  seriously  dif&culted  on  this  subject.  I 
have  before  stated,  that  which  is  clear  to  the  conscience  of  every  man, 
that  to  admit  that  God's  foreknowledge  comprehends  all  the  works  of 
men  and  how  they  will  eventuate,  represents  the  character  of  God  in 
a  very  different  light  from  what  is  palmed  on  him  by  maintaining  that 
all  things  eventuate  as  they  do,  the  disobedience  and  consequent  pun- 
ishment of  rational,  conscious,  and  responsible  agents  not  excepted, 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  189 

in  consequence  of  those  decrees  of  foreordination  wlaicli  have  no  re- 
,spect  to  good  or  evil  deeds.  I  have  also  shown  before,  the  propriety 
of  putting  men  to  a  thorough  trial,  that  they  might  learn  by  a  consum- 
mate experience  to  keep  themselves  from  evil,  to  guard  against 
danger,  and  to  know  the  benefits  of  obedience.  But  some  would 
have  it  that  the  foreknowledge  of  God  is  the  primary  and  efficient 
cause  of  all  events,  evil  as  well  as  good.  This  is  the  same  as  uncon- 
ditional decrees,  and  to  be  rejected  on  the  same  principle. 

But  let  us  consider  soberly  what  is  the  foreknowledge  of  God,  par- 
ticularly as  it  respects  our  own  estate.  For  however  little  we  may  be 
able  to  comprehend  of  God  or  his  foreknowledge  generally,  it  is  rea- 
sonable, that  according  to  the  privilege  granted  to  us,  by  the  revela- 
tion which  he  has  made  of  himself,  we  should  have  a  correct  under- 
standing of  his  foreknowledge  as  far  as  it  is  justly  influential  on  our 
conduct  and  final  estate.  Then  what  does  God  know  concerning 
us  .''  He  knows  that  which  he  has  decreed ;  that  "  he  ivho  belleveth 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved;  and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned  : 
Or  that,  in  every  nation^  he  that  feareth  him  and  worketh  righteousness  is 
accepted  of  him.  Thou  meelest  him  that  icorkelh  righteousness.  But 
does  not  God  certainly  and  absolutely  foreknow  the  works  and  the  final 
event  of  every  man  and  every  woman,  whether  they  will  believe  and 
obey  the  Gospel,  and  so  be  saved  or  not .''  Without  limiting  or  desiring 
to  limit  the  knowledge  of  God  or  any  other  of  his  perfections,  I  answer : 
That  there  is  no  such  foreknowledge  in  God,  as  can  have  any  direct 
influence,  or  any  influence  at  all,  without  an  undue  use  of  it,  to  cause 
any  man  to  fail,  or  to  prevent  any  one  from  gaining  the  crown  of 
righteousness  in  eternal  life,  who  does  not  deliberately,  and  without 
any  necessity  arising  from  foreordaining  decrees,  God's  foreknow- 
ledge, or  any  other  cause  abstractedly  from  his  own  unnecessary 
choice,  reject  the  Gospel  and  its  salvation.  Thus  I  will  ask  ;  Does 
not  God  know  certainly  whether  this  man  or  that  will  have  a  good 
crop  of  corn  next  fall  ?  Deny  his  knowledge  if  ye  can.  God  does 
know  this,  making  allowance  for  the  goodness  of  the  season,  that  if 
they  plant  their  corn  and  give  it  proper  cultivation  they  will  receive 
their  crop  accordingly  :  but  if  they  neglect,  they  fail.  To  every 
man  according  to  his  works.  But  again  ;  Does  not  God  know  whether 
these  men  will  plant  and  tend  their  corn  and  so  receive  their  crop, 
or  not .''  Deny  it  if  ye  can.  Yet  I  say,  there  is  no  such  foreknow- 
ledge in  God  as,  directly,  or  at  all,  without  an  abuse  of  it,  will  cause 
one  of  them  to  fail,  or  prevent  him  from  finding  his  crop  in  the  way 
of  his  duty.  God  has  no  foreknowledge  to  exercise  in  that  way ; 
and  men  in  relation  to  natural  things  are  not  influenced  by  that  kind 
of  foreknowledge  which  God  does  not  claim,  but  by  this,  that  he  who 
does  work  shall  reap  the  fruit ;  and  they  all  find  their  account  in  doing 
their  duty,  except  the  indolent,  whom  there  is  no  cause  to  prevent 
from  sharing  the  blessing  in  the  same  line  with  others,  only  their  own 
indisposition  to  submit  to  the  order  of  God  and  the  line  of  duty  in 
the  things  of  nature  :  the  earth  is  as  free  to  yield  her  strength  to  them 
as  to  others.  Just  so,  the  Gospel  will  yield  her  fruits,  the  crown  of 
righteousness  and  eternal  life,  to  all  who  plant  by  faith,  (which,  as 
already  proved,  is  within  the  reach  of  those  who  hear  the  Gospel,) 
and  cultivate  by  obedience  :   and  this  is  what  God  knows  of  these 


190  OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

things.  For  in  the  Gospel  there  arc  no  unfruitful  seasons,  exclusively 
from  the  failings  of  the  people  towards  their  duty.  Otherwise,  wher- 
ever the  Gospel  is  there  are  always  good  seasons  ;  and  where  it  is  not, 
men  are  as  innocent  in  not  cultivating  it,  provided  they  are  upright 
in  what  degree  of  light  they  can  acquire,  as  men  who  cultivate  no  corn 
where  there  is  none  to  plant,  in  doing  the  best  with  what  they  have. 
But,  Woe  to  our  land,  for  the  Gospel  is  here  and  men  are  unwilling 
to  cultivate  it,  because  in  so  doing,  it  is  indispensable  to  cut  down 
and  destroy  all  the  wild  weeds  of  the  forest,  the  vine  of  the  earth,  the 
grapes  of  Sodom  and  the  clusters  of  Gomorrah,  which  mankind  love 
more  than  the  holy  fruits  of  paradise.  But  let  the  minds  of  the  honest 
be  released  from  difficulty  ;  to  such,  having  once  found  the  Gospel, 
there  is  no  insurmountable  cause  of  discouragement. 

It  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  to  keep  the  character  of 
God  clear  in  the  view  of  men's  consciences  ;  for  without  this  they 
will  never  see  themselves  in  the  wrong  on  right  principles  or  feel 
proper  compunction  for  sin.  That  law  must  be  holy,  just  and  good, 
which  can  take  occasion  by  a  man's  sin,  deceive  him  and  slay  him. 
As  long  as  a  man  conceives  that  any  thing  in  God  is  the  efficient 
cause,  however  remotely,  of  his  being  a  sinner,  whether  decrees  or 
foreknowledge,  he  can  never  feel  clearly  guilty,  or  justly  condemned, 
neither  while  he  conceives  the  cause  to  be  any  where  exclusively  of 
his  own  choice  and  doings.  I  am  aware  that  some  who  presume  to 
claim  the  name  of  preachers  of  the  Gospel  talk  otherwise,  saying, 
They  are  not  obliged  to  vindicate  the  character  of  God  ;  God,  say 
they,  is  able  to  vindicate  himself ;  and  thus  represent  him  as  a  thresh- 
ing tyrant  who  carries  all  before  him  by  arbitrary  power,  and  whose 
ways  are  not  justifiable  before  his  responsible  creatures,  who  are  re- 
quired to  obey  him.  And  we  have  no  right,  say  they,  poor,  short- 
sighted mortals,  to  inquire  into  the  justice  or  propriety  of  his  plans 
or  his  executing  them.  It  is  enough  for  us  that  he  has  said  it  and 
done  it.  True  enough  ;  a  Thus  saith  the  Lord  is  satisfactory  to  any 
consistent  man.  But  we  have  no  Thus  saith  the  Lord  for  a  partial 
and  specified  elect  to  the  exclusion  of  others  ;  they  can  show  us  no 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  for  the  foreknowledge  of  God,  amounting  to  an 
absolute  decree,  fixing  the  condition  of  men  without  respect  to  their 
faith  and  obedience,  or  in  any  wise  limiting  or  cramping  the  certain 
prospects  of  eternal  life  for  those  who  submit  to  keep  the  Gospel  in 
obedience  on  the  authority  implied  in  its  proposals  ;  there  is  no  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  for  submitting  to  the  dictates  of  arbitrary,  or  almighty 
power  without  a  rational  conviction  in  the  judgment  and  conscience 
of  the  impropriety  of  the  requisition.  But  we  have  a  Thus  saith  the 
Lord;  yea,  we  have  it,  for  inquiring  into  the  consistency  and  pro- 
priety of  God's  dealings  with  men.  "Come  now,  and  let  us  reason 
together,  saith  the  Lord."  (Isa.  i.  18.)  What;  men  reason  with 
God  and  God  with  men  .''  Yea,  even  so  ;  Come  now,  and  let  us  be 
convinced,  as  if  he  had  said,  (thus  in  the  Hebrew,  with  a  good  colour,) 
that  we  may  see  who  are  right,  ye  or  I.  And  the  prophets,  Jeremiah 
and  Ezekiel,  had  plain  and  familiar  reasoning,  by  commission  from 
God,  to  show  to  men  the  equity  of  his  dealings  towards  them.  These, 
therefore,  found  it  an  important  charge  committed  to  them  to  vindi- 
cate the  character  of  God,  to  show  to  man,  not  his  sovereignty  about 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  191 

whieli  some  affect  to  be  so  mucli  concerned,  but  his  uprightness.  For 
tbis  is  tbe  work  of  a  true  messenger,  one  among  a  thousand.  (Job 
xxxiii.  23. )  And  this  was  tbe  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  true  messenger 
of  the  covenant,  whom  God  hath  set  forth  a  mercy-seat,  through  faith 
in  his  blood,  for  a  demonstration  of  his  righteousness,  that  the  people 
might  come  and  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  when  they  see  before 
their  eyes  that  with  him  there  is  forgiveness,  that  he  may  be  feared,  that 
he  is  just  and  the  just ifier  of  him  who  is  of  the  faith  of  Jesus.  But  how 
will  men  be  induced  to  render  to  God  his  due,  to  pay  to  him  a  reason- 
able service,  unless  they  can  understand  the  reasonableness  of  his 
plans,  his  doings  and  his  requisitions. 

Those  preachers,  therefore,  who  have  such  conceptions  of  the 
plans  and  purposes  of  God,  as  will  not  bear  a  fair  and  rational  justi- 
fication to  the  conviction  and  acknowledgment  of  all  reasonable  men, 
have  a  poor  errand  to  the  world  of  mankind,  already  lost  in  their 
enmity  against  him.  So  far  as  a  messenger  fails  in  showing  to  man 
the  righteousness  of  God  in  all  his  ways,  so  far  he  comes  short  of 
the  work  of  a  minister  of  Christ.  "  For  what  if  some  did  not  be- 
lieve .''  shall  their  unbelief  make  the  faith  of  God  without  effect  .•' 
God  forbid  :  Yea,  let  God  be  true  [and  faithful  in  all  his  ways  to 
the  knowledge  and  understanding  of  men]  but  every  man  a  liar  ; 
[and  so  remain  until  he  come  to  know  the  truth  and  righteousness  of 
God;]  as  it  is  written,  that  thou  mightest  be  justified  in  thy  sayings, 
and  mightest  overcome  when  thou  art  judged."  (Rom.  iii.  3,4.)  But 
these  few  remarks  must  suffice  ;  as  a  free  and  full  investigation  of  this 
particular  would  lead  too  far  from  the  subject  in  hand,  as  well  as  in- 
duce a  repetition  of  much  of  what  is  already  written. 

We  have  now  gone  through  the  particular  subject  of  election  and 
reprobation,  and  shown  clearly  that  the  decrees  of  God  are  absolute 
or  positive  on  those  points  only  which  were  necessary  to  secure  the 
foundation  of  the  work,  and  to  provide  sufficiently  for  the  salvation  of 
men,  and  that  the  way  is  left  open  for  all  who  will  to  come  and  be 
saved  ;  and  all  to  the  glory  of  God.  And  although  it  should  be  ob- 
jected, as  no  doubt  it  may,  that  on  this  plan  the  building  will  always 
be  lacking  in  stability  and  glory,  for  the  work  and  spirit  of  men  will 
be  mingled  with  the  work  of  God,  and  built  on  the  foundation  which 
he  has  laid.  This  objection  can  arise  from  nothing  but  lack  of  under- 
standing ;  for  souls  who  are  gained  to  the  Gospel  by  the  authority  of 
God  therein  made  known,  and  yield  that  obedience  which  the  Gospel 
requires,  live  the  same  life  and  partake  of  the  same  Spirit  with  the 
foundation.  And  out  of  his  fullness  have  all  we  received,  and  grace  ac- 
cording to  grace.  Thus  they  become  cemented  or  incorporated  into 
one  body  by  the  baptism  of  the  one  Spirit ;  and  the  building  is  all  of 
God,  who  is  above  all  and  through  all  and  in  all ;  for  both  he  that 
sanctifieth  and  they  that  are  sanctified  are  all  of  one. 

I  know  it  has  also  been  argued  that  snch  a  plan  leaves  all  in  un- 
certainty, and  that  God  himself  is  implicated  with  uncertaint}'-,  whether 
he  has  not  sent  bis  Son  and  done  all  the  rest  in  vain ;  and  that  Jesus 
Christ  also  is  involved  in  the  same  uncertainty;  for  if  every  man  is  to 
make  his  own  choice,  who  knows  who,  or  whether  any,  will  obey  the 
Gospel,  or  whether  Jesus  will  ever  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and 
be  satisfied }    This  is  indeed  a  whimsical  argument,  and  represents 


192  OF    ELECTION    AND    FO"REKNOWLEDGE. 

God  as  incapable  of  knowing  any  thing  but  what  be  determines  to 
bring  to  pass  at  all  adventures,  without  leaving  his  accountable  crea- 
tures to  any  choice  in  the  matter,  except  that  which  is  produced  limit- 
ed and  circumscribed  by  absolute  decrees,  which  is  no  choice  at  all, 
and  the  plan  disannuls  all  responsibility,  as  proved  in  its  place.  What 
kind  of  being  must  we  suppose  God  to  be,  if  he  has  so  little  under- 
standing of  the  organization,  faculties  and  sensibility  of  the  creatures 
whom  he  has  formed,  and  indued  with  all  these  things,  as  not  to  know, 
with  the  utmost  precision,  what  kind  of  a  Gospel  would  answer  the  pur- 
pose of  gaining  them  to  obedience,  and  what  degree  of  energy  must 
be  exercised  to  overcome  them  to  make  their  choice  ;  and  how  to  in- 
crease the  energy  of  the  call  and  pursuit  until  his  house  should  be  filled  ? 
It  is  indeed  a  poor  conception  of  God,  to  suppose  or  to  admit  that  he 
can  be  at  any  uncertainty  how  to  adapt  a  Gospel  to  the  state  of  man, 
even  in  his  fallen  condition.  And  what  is  to  hinder  that  God  should 
bring  men  to  trial  a  second  time,  even  those  who  have  rejected  the 
first,  the  second  being  a  deeper  work  .'*  and  if  that  will  not  do,  a 
third. ^ 

Thus,  while  the  obedient  before  the  flood  were  preserved  in  safe 
keeping,  ready  for  a  greater  day,  and  the  wicked  cut  off,  and  so  of 
all  the  rest  in  the  days  of  Moses,  and  after,  until  the  perfect  day; 
what  is  to  hinder  God  from  bringing  them  all  forth,  and  giving  them 
a  trial,  in  a  day  when  the  work  would  reach  deeper  into  the  quick, 
and  save  some  of  them.'     For  so  it  is  written  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  he 
was   "  put   to    death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  in  the  Spirit ;  by 
which  also    he   went   and   preached   to    the    spirits  in  prison ;  who 
some  time  were   disobedient,  when  once  the  long-sufiering  of  God 
waited  in  the  days  of  Noah,  while  the  ark  was  a  preparing,  wherein 
few,  that  is  eight,  souls  were  saved."     And  again:   "For,  for  this 
cause   was  the  Gospel  preached  also  to  the   dead,  that  they  might 
be  judged  according  to  men  in  the  flesh,  but  live  according  to  God  in 
the   spirit,"  if  they  will  obey,   and   so  have  the  same  privilege  of 
those  in  the  body.   (1  Pet.  iii.  18,  19,  20,  and  iv.  6.)      Should  God, 
therefore,  in  the  great  love  wherewith  he  loved  the  world  of  mankind  ; 
in  the  great  mercy  and  compassion  which  he  feels  for  their  mise- 
ries ;    and  in  the  abundant  willingness  which  he  has  expressed  for 
their  salvation,  have  given  all  those  people  a  trial  by  the  ministry  of 
Jesus  Christ,  in  his  first  appearing — not  even  excepting  Cain  who 
slew  his  righteous  brother;   Esau,  who  sold  his  birthright,  (for  when 
it  is  said  that  afterward,  when  he  would  have  inherited  the  blessing, 
he  was  rejected ;   for  he  found  no  place    of  repentance,  though  he 
sought  it  carefully  with  tears;  all  this  does  not  imply  that  he  would 
have  come  to  repentance  for  his  sins  but  could  not  get  the  privilege, 
but,  that  he  found  no  room  in  Isaac  to  repent  of  having  given  that 
first  blessing  to  Jacob,  nor  any  disposition  to  recall  it,)  or  Saul  the 
wicked  king  of  Israel,  or  Absalom  the  rebellious  son  of  David,  or 
Solomon,  who  after  all  his  glory,  and  after  the  Lord  had  appeared 
to  him  twice,  had  his  heart  turned  away  from  the  true  God  after 
idols,  by  his  attachment  to  strange  women,  or  Manasseh,  Ahab,  or 
Ahaz,  or  Jezebel,  who  can  gainsay  or  prove  to  the  contrary  ?    Is  there 
any  thing  too  hard  for  the  Lord  .''    "  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son, 
but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shaU  he  not  with  him  also  freely 


OF    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE.  193 

give  us  all  tMngs."  (Rom.  viii.  32.)  For  the  Gospel  was  preaclied  to 
the  dead ;  which  signifies  those  gone  out  of  the  body  by  being  con- 
trasted with  men  in  the  flesh  ;  which  flesh  also  signifies  the  animal 
flesh,  or  the  body,  because  men  in  the  flesh,  meaning  men  in  a  carnal 
nature,  would  be  no  contrast  with  the  dead,  whether  literally  or  mor- 
ally understood.  To  the  dead^  is  the  exact  rendering  of  the  word 
which  in  the  common  reading  is  translated  to  them  that  are  dead. 
And  if  Jesus  Christ,  the  charitable  and  forgiving  Saviour,  as  he  comes 
in  his  second  appearing,  (which  is  already  commenced,)  while 
he  convinces  all  of  their  ungodly  deeds,  and  hard,  ungenerous 
speeches,  should  give  all  another  trial  to  bring  them  to  repentance, 
not  even  excepting  Judas  the  traitor,  or  Pilate  who  basely  through 
fear  of  the  people  gave  judgment  against  him,  contrary  to  his  own 
conscience,  who  can  withstand,  and  say  that  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
has  done  unjustly  }  And  there  is  nothing  to  contradict  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  second  appearing  of  Christ  more  than  in  the 
first ;  for  that  the  time  of  the  last  judgment  is  a  time  of  preaching 
the  Gospel  is  proved  in  its  place.  On  this  plan  the  Gospel  will  have 
its  full  elFect,  God  will  have  his  house  filled,  and  no  man  will  be  left 
to  perish  without  first  having  a  fair  opportunity  to  escape. 

The  Gospel  is  most  liberal;  God  has  revealed  himself  therein  a 
merciful  God,  generous,  benevolent,  and  kind  to  the  fallen  race  ;  but 
he  is  also  just ;  this  ought  never  to  be  left  out  of  view.  What  secu- 
rity or  propriety  would  be  in  the  government  of  a  prince  whose  life 
and  institutions  were  not  marked  with  decided  justice  in  all  respects  ? 
Many  people  appear  to  be  highly  entertained  and  delighted  with  the 
liberality  of  the  Gospel ;  they  are  pleased  with  hearing  the  liberal 
invitations,  setting  the  door  of  salvation  open  to  all,  and  making  the 
way  and  end  thereof,  eternal  life,  free  to  all  without  respect  of  per- 
sons, in  contrast  with  those  contracted  and  selfish  notions  of  some 
who  believe  in  a  partial  election  of  some  to  life,  with  the  consequent 
reprobation  of  others  to  perdition,  without  afi^ording  them  any  fair,  or 
even  possible  opportunity  to  escape.  But  much  as  they  are  often 
gratified  with  hearing  these  things,  their  pleasure  appears  to  be  mere- 
ly sentimental.  In  many  of  them  no  room  is  found  for  the  least  grain 
of  the  work  of  God's  power  to  save  the  soul  from  sin;  they  savour 
not  the  inward  workings  and  power  of  Christ,  and  have  no  relish  for 
the  holy,  self-denied  life  of  a  Christian,  which  is  the  prelude  to  eter- 
nal life  and  glory  in  heaven.  It  appears  as  though  the  more  gracious 
and  condescending  God  reveals  himself  to  men  for  their  salvation, 
the  more  confidently  many  claim  to  themselves  license  to  treat  the 
messages  of  grace  with  neglect  or  open  contempt,  and  to  affront  his 
authority  by  disobedience  :  this  is  the  eff'ect  with  those  who  receive 
not  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it  that  they  might  be  saved,  whose  hearts 
are  not  governed  by  the  Spirit  of  obedience  in  Christ.  Can  any 
people  be  in  greater  danger  of  coming  into  this  condemnation,  that 
"  even  as  they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  God 
gave  them  up  to  a  reprobate  mind  to  do  those  things  which  are  not 
convenient ;  being  filled  with  all  unrighteousness."  "  Who  being 
past  feeling  have  given  themselves  over  to  lasciviousness,  to  work 
all  uncleanness  with  greediness."  "  Oh  that  they  were  wise,  that 
they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider  their  latter  end." 
14 


194  OP    ELECTION    AND    FOREKNOWLEDGE. 

# 

Will  nothing  do  short  of  letting  men  rule  and  bringing  God  into 
subjection  to  their  will  ?  Will  men  refuse  to  submit  until  the  door 
of  heaven  is  opened  wide  enough  to  let  them  in  with  all  their  sins,  and 
their  own  wills  ruling  in  them  ?  This  would  agree  well  with  the 
nature  of  men  ;  but  it  is  impracticable.  It  is  impossible  even  with 
God  to  effect  it :  sin  cannot  unite  with  holiness.  It  is  unreasonable  ; 
man  cannot  rule  the  mind  of  God  :  he  must  either  become  subject  or 
be  unhappy  for  ever.  "  I  have  sworn  by  myself,  saith  the  Lord,  the 
word  is  gone  out  of  my  mouth  in  righteousness,  and  shall  not  return, 
That  unto  me  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  shall  swear." 
(Isa.  xlv.  23.) 

But  the  last  time  is  the  last.  Every  former  dispensation  spake  of 
another  to  come.  The  first  appearance  of  Christ  bore  witness  to  the 
second,  but  not  to  a  third.  That  second  having  already  commenced, 
according  to  the  Scriptures,  as  proved  in  its  place,  proclaims  the  last 
opportunity  for  men  to  be  saved.  And  shall  not  the  goodness  of  God 
lead  to  repentance.''  Or  shall  men  finally  persist  in  despising  the 
riches  of  his  goodness,  and  forbearance,  and  long-suffering  !  after  he 
has  limited  a  certain  time,  saying,  To-day^  after  so  long  a  thne^  as 
it  is  said.  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts. 
Wherefore  (as  the  Holy  Ghost  saith)  To-day^  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice 
harden  not  your  hearts,  as  in  the  provocation,  in  the  day  of  tempta- 
tion in  the  wilderness,  when  he  sware  in  his  wrath.  They  shall  not 
enter  into  my  rest.  For  such  a  closing  of  the  last  dispensation,  the 
last  calling  and  offer  of  mercy,  will  be  irrecoverable  ruin.  And  let 
those  who  have  any  degree  of  light  and  conviction  of  the  work  of 
God  which  he  is  doing  in  these  last  days,  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  remem- 
ber these  things,  before  their  day  pass  and  the  work  come  to  a 
close  with  them  :  for  it  will  be  cut  short  in  righteousness.  "  For 
if  we  sin  willfully  after  that  we  have  received  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins,  but  a  fearful 
looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall  devour  the 
adversaries."  "  And  whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it 
shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world 
to  come."  "  There  is  a  sin  unto  death  ;  I  do  not  say  that  ye  shall 
pray  for  it." 

It  has  been  said,  that  by  this  plan  which  leaves  every  man  to 
make  his  own  choice,  God  is  subjected  to  his  creatures  ;  that  every 
man  may  have  a  choice,  down  to  the  darkest  savage  or  meanest  Hot- 
tentot, but  God  must  have  no  choice.  Vain  man  would  be  wise  ; 
and  by  professing  to  be  wise  above  what  is  revealed,  he  becomes  a. 
fool.  Because  God  will  only  choose  the  thing  which  is  good  and 
just,  because  he  has  chosen  to  himself  the  people  who  call  upon 
him  day  and  night,  and  who  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  is  it  there- 
fore true  that  he  has  no  choice  at  all  t  But  who  ascribes  to  man  a 
power,  or  privilege  of  choosing,  which  is  denied  to  God }  a  power  to 
choose  one  man  for  good  to  the  injury  or  neglect  of  another  without 
any  reason  found  in  the  men  for  such  distinction.^  Surely  not  a 
friend  of  that  God  who  judges  every  man  according  to  his  work : — 
surely  not  a  freeman  of  America,  a  republican  friend  to  human  hap- 
piness. But  is  this  to  subjugate  God  to  the  will  of  man  that  every, 
one  may  have  a  choice,  according  to  God's  appointment,  to  submit  to 


OF   THE    TIMES    AND    SEASONS.  195 

God's  plan  or  to  die  in  his  sins  and  to  sink  into  irrecoverable  perdi- 
tion by  rejecting  tbe  last  offer  of  bis  grace  ?  Could  man  reject  God's 
terms  witb  impunity,  tbat  would  limit  tbe  power  of  the  Holy  One 
and  seem  to  subject  God  to  men.  But  how  many  !  O  bow  many  make 
bold  strides,  and  show  tbe  fairest  prospects  to  be  added  to  tbe  num- 
her  of  those  whose  end  is  destruction,  who  were  of  old  prescribed  to 
this  condemnation,  ungodly  men,  turning  tbe  grace  of  our  God  into 
lasciviousness,  and  denying  the  only  Lord  God,  and  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  whose  judgment  now  of  a  long  time  lingers  not,  and  their 
damnation  slumbereth  not  ? 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

OF  THE  TIMES  AND  SEASONS,  OR  ACCEPTED  TIME  AND  DAY  OF 

SALVATION. 

We  shall  close  this  subject  relating  to  the  decrees  of  God,  with  a 
few  sayings  on  the  Times  and  Seasons  which  the  Father  has  reserved 
in  his  own  power.  God  who  is  most  wise,  and  knows  all  his  works 
from  the  beginning,  has  the  most  correct  knowledge  at  what  time  to 
introduce  a  new  dispensation,  or  any  new  degree  of  light  for  the  pro- 
motion of  tbe  great  work  of  redemption.  And  what  belongs  to  us  is 
to  be  ready  and  obedient  to  his  proposals.  God  never  undertook  so 
great  a  work  without  considering  of  his  own  power  to  carry  it  on,  and 
his  wisdom  to  govern  in  all  things.  "  For  he  worketh  all  things  ac- 
cording to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will."  And  no  part  of  bis  work  wiU 
ever  come  out  of  place  :  whatever  is  lacking  or  wrong  will  be  on  our 
part,  and  we  must  sustain  the  loss. 

The  principal  point  then,  which  ought  to  occupy  the  mind  and  the 
attention  of  all  men,  is  to  know  the  times  and  seasons,  so  far  as  to  be 
in  readiness  to  open  to  every  one  bis  duty,  and  to  make  a  proper  use 
of  tbe  seasons  as  they  pass  along,  without  being  overly  anxious  about 
those  which  are  not  yet  made  known.  When  the  apostles  with  great 
anxiety  inquired  of  tbe  Lord  Jesus,  "  saying.  Wilt  thou  at  this  time 
restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel .''  He  said  unto  them.  It  is  not  for  you  to 
know  the  times  and  seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  put  in  bis  own  • 
power.  But  ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come 
upon  you."  (Acts  i.  6-8.)  They  were  required  to  be  obedient  and 
in  subjection,  ready  for  what  should  come  next.  For  tbe  want  of 
considering  tbe  day  and  attending  to  the  duties  of  it  in  the  proper 
time,  many  are  exposed  to  great  loss.  This  was  the  case  witb  tbe 
Jews,  over  whose  city  Jesus  wept,  "  saying.  If  thou  hadst  known,  even 
thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things  which  belong  to  thy  peace, 
but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes."  (Luke  xix.  42.) 

What  is  required  therefore  of  every  man,  is  to  keep  up  with  the 
time,  fulfilling  the  duties  as  it  passes  along  :  in  so  doing  he  is  justified 


196  OF  THE  TIMES  AND  SEASONS. 

and  accepted  of  God.  Tlius  Cornelius  was  accepted  of  God,  and  his 
prayers  and  alms  went  up  for  a  memorial  before  God,  before  he  knew 
any  thing  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  or  had  found  the  way  to  be  saved. 
Thus  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews  in  being  obedient  to  the  ordinances 
and  statutes  of  God  in  that  day,  at  all  times  when  they  were  obedient 
in  all  these  things,  were  accepted  of  God  and  had  prosperity  and 
peace.  To  keep  up  with  the  time  is  what  is  required  and  no  more. 
It  was  not  the  duty  of  the  Jews  to  believe  in  Christ  in  his  proper 
character  as  the  Son  of  God  and  their  Redeemer  until  he  appeared 
to  them  and  began  to  make  himself  known  in  that  character.  They 
had  the  promises  and  believed  them,  and  were  justified  in  so  doing  ; 
but  what  things"  were  contained  in  the  promises  it  was  not  their  duty 
to  know,  to  understand,  or  even  to  believe,  for  eye  had  not  seen  nor 
ear  heard,  neither  had  they  entered  into  the  heart  of  man.  And, 
"  The  prophets  have  inquired  and  searched  diligently,  who  prophesied 
of  the  grace  that  should  come  unto  you  :  searching  what,  and  what 
manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them  did  signify, 
when  it  testified  beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  the  glory  that 
should  follow.  Unto  whom  it  was  revealed,  that  not  unto  themselves, 
but  unto  us,  they  did  minister  the  things  which  are  now  reported  unto 
you.  (1  Peter  i.  10,  &c.)  Thus  they  were  left  to  find  their  duty  and 
their  place  in  their  own  day.  It  was  not  the  duty  of  Cornelius  to  be- 
lieve in  Christ  until  he  had  heard  of  him  ;  neither  was  it  the  duty  of 
the  Eunuch  to  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  one  of  whom  the 
prophet  spake,  until  he  had  a  guide  to  give  him  an  understanding  of 
what  he  read.  So  neither  is  it  the  duty  of  the  heathen  at  this  day  to 
believe  in  Christ  who  have  had  no  knowledge  nor  information  about 
him.  Neither  is  it  the  duty  of  professed  Christians  under  Antichris- 
tian  darkness  to  believe  that  Christ  has  made  his  second  appearance, 
until  they  hear  the  testimony  opened  far  enough  to  carry  conviction 
to  their  consciences,  if  found  honest.  Until  then  they  are  justifiable 
in  preaching  and  praying  according  to  the  best  light  which  they  can 
find — eating  the  bread  and  drinking  the  cup,  showing  forth  his  death 
until  he  come — looking  for  and  hastening  to  the  coming  of  the  day  of 
God.  For  according  to  any  man's  light  and  his  obedience  to  it  is  his 
acceptance.  For  with  God  there  is  no  respect  of  persons ;  but  in 
every  nation  he  that  feareth  him  and  worketh  righteousness  is  ac- 
cepted of  him,  on  the  same  principle  with  Cornelius. 

But  let  it  be  remembered  that  ignorance  of  the  truth,  or  not  be- 
lieving it,  will  not  justify  a  man  in  neglect,  who  shuns  the  light 
because  it  is  contrary  to  his  former  prejudice,  but  especially,  who 
avoids  the  light,  or  wards  off  the  conviction,  because  the  things  testi- 
fied are  contrary  to  the  feelings  and  propensities  of  his  nature. 
"  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh, 
and  these  are  contrary  the  one  to  the  other.  Because  the  carnal  mind 
is  enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God  neither 
indeed  can  be."  (Gal.  v.  17  ;  Rom.  viii.  7.)  The  Gospel  therefore 
is  necessarily  enmity  against  the  carnal  mind,  which  rules  in  natural 
men,  whatever  their  profession  may  be.  And  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
but  the  Gospel  will  work  in  the  people  who  hear  it  all  manner  of 
evil  temper  against  it ;  as  the  Apostle  saith  of  that  law  which  was 
holy,  and  just,  and  good ;  It  wrought  in  me  all  manner  of  concupis- 


OF  THE  TIMES  AND  SEASONS.  197 

cence  :  every  kind  of  lust.  Tlius  the-  Gospel  will  stir  up  in  men 
lusts,  murders,  evil  surmisings,  maliciousness,  blasphemies  against 
God,  hatred  against  men,  hypocrisies,  and  every  evil  work,  because 
it  comes  directly  against  every  such  work  and  the  nature  which 
produces  them.  Thus  said  Jesus,  "  The  world  cannot  hate  you:" 
[his  brethren  who  did  not  believe  and  were  therefore  of  the  world  :] 
"  but  me  it  hateth,  because  I  testify  of  it,  that  the  works  thereof 
are  evil."  (John  vii.  7.)  And  no  matter  what  a  man's  profession  is  ; 
that  cannot  be  stirred  up  in  him  which  is  not  there.  If  therefore 
such  evil  passions,  lusts  and  blasphemies  are  stirred  in  any  man  it 
is  undeniable  that  they  have  their  home  and  residence  there.  And 
this  is  no  evidence  against  the  truth  of  such  testimony,  but  rather  in 
its  favour,  because  it  stirs  up  its  enemies  in  opposition.  For  if  it 
were  of  the  world  the  world  would  love  its  own.  Many,  when  they 
hear  the  testimony  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  reject  it,  and 
forge  many  pretexts  to  excuse  themselves,  unwilling  to  disclose  the 
radical  reason,  that  it  comes  against  their  lustful  natures,  testifying 
to  them  that  the  works  thereof  are  evil,  and  the  enjoyment  impure. 
And  they  hate  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  lived  a  self-denied  life,  and 
never  indulged  in  the  lust  of  concupiscence.  Thus  the  Jews  lost 
their  justification,  when  the  light  appeared,  by  hating  Christ  and  the 
Father.  "  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  to  them  they  had  not  had 
sin  ;  but  now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin.  He  that  hateth  me 
hateth  my  Father  also.  If  I  had  not  done  among  them  the  works 
which  none  other  man  did,  they  had  not-  had  sin  ;  but  now  have  they 
both  seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Father."   (Jno.  xv.  22,  24.) 

But  however  justifiable  any  are  in  unbelief,  they  are  not  saved, 
as  has  been  shown  in  the  case  of  Cornelius  and  others  ;  for  there  is  no 
salvation  out  of  Christ.  "Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other: 
for  there  is  none  other  naime  under  heaven,  given  among  men,  where- 
by we  must  be  saved,"  (Act.  ii.  12,)  and  Christ  is  not  known  with- 
out the  Gospel;  for,  to  preach  Christ  is  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  to 
preach  the  Gospel  is  to  preach  Christ.  Thus  the  Apostle  saith  of  the 
Gentiles  before  they  heard  the  Gospel,  that  they  were  without  God 
and  had  no  hope.  And  in  all  the  favourable  language  which  he  has 
used  towards  them  in  the  beginning  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  (ii. 
11-16,)  there  is  not  a  word  which  can  even  imply  salvation.  "  For 
there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  God.  For  as  many  as  have  sin- 
ned without  law  shall  also  perish  without  law  ;  and  as  many  as  have 
sinned  in  the  law  shall  be  judged  by  the  law,"  and  therefore  be  sure- 
ly condemned,  for  cursed  is  every  one  who  continueth  not  in  all  things 
which  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them,  (for  not  the 
hearers  of  the  law  are  just  before  God,  but  the  doers  of  the  law 
shall  be  justified.  For  when  the  Gentiles  who  have  not  the  law,  do 
by  nature  the  things  contained  in  the  law,  these  having  not  the  law, 
are  a  law  to  themselves  ;  which  show  the  work  of  the  law  written  in 
their  hearts,  their  conscience  also  bearing  witness,  and  their  thoughts 
the  mean  while  accusing  or  else  excusing  one  another,)  in  the  day 
when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men  by  Jesus  Christ  according 
to  my  Gospel."     But  not  a  word  of  their  being  saved  on  these  terms. 

Again  :  However  justifiable  any  are  in  unbelief  before  they  hear 
the  Gospel,  the  entrance  of  the  Gospel,  into  the  land  and  neighbour- 


198  OF    THE    TIMES    AND    SEASONS. 

hood,  consumes  all  their  justification  on  tliat  ground ;  for  tlie  light 
will  work  in,  and  they  have  either  to  ohey  or  strengthen  themselves 
in  their  opposition,  or  to  use  the  mildest  term,  their  disapprobation  of 
that  Gospel  which  strikes  at  the  life  of  their  sensual  enjoyments  and 
appetites.  Now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin.  "  And  the  times  of 
this  ignorance  God  winked  at :  but  now  commandeth  all  men  every 
where  to  repent."  (Acts  xvii.  30.) 

And  as  before  observed,  God  will  never  introduce  any  dispensation 
out  of  time  or  place.  When  the  Jews,  who  had  the  greatest  privi- 
leges of  any  people,  had  been  tried  to  the  utmost  in  that  dispensation, 
and  were  not  saved  or  made  a  whit  better  than  the  Gentiles  ;  for, 
"  What  then  }  are  we  better  than  they  }  No,  in  no  wise  ;  for  we 
have  before  proved  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  that  they  are  all  under 
sin."  (Rom.  iii.  9.)  When  the  Gentiles  had  done  their  best  by  their 
wisdom  and  philosophy,  and  could  effect  nothing ;  when  the  times 
were  fulfilled  according  to  the  predictions  of  the  prophets,  and  the 
people  were  in  expectation,  after  John  had  preached,  that  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  was  at  hand,  the  Christ  of  God  appeared  and  opened 
the  way  of  salvation  by  the  way  of  the  cross,  to  be  preached  to  all 
people  ;  yet  quite  contrary  to  the  expectations  and  feelings  of  all. 
"  For  after  that,  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew 
not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them 
that  believe.  For  the  Jews  require  a  sign,  and  the  Greeks  seek  after 
wisdom  :  but  we  preach  Christ  crucified,  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block, 
to  the  Greeks  foolishness  ;  but  to  those  who  are  called,  both  Jews  and 
Greeks,  Christ  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God."  (1  Cor.  i. 
21-24.)  And  after  the  falling  away,  to  which  Jesus  and  his  apostles 
bore  witness,  had  prevailed  in  the  earth,  in  the  power  of  Antiehris- 
tian  darkness,  and  the  people  had  long  looked  for  the  better  day  of 
deliverance,  many  having  borne  witness  that  the  time  is  at  hand,  the 
true  Gospel  of  Christ  is  again  made  known  in  his  second  appearing, 
tendering  salvation  to  all  who  will  confess  and  forsake  all  sin  in  na- 
ture and  works,  and  thus  follow  Christ  bearing  his  cross  in  the  faith 
of  his  second  appearing.  This  second  appearing  is  without  sin  to  sal- 
vation, to  those  who  look  for  him,  and  are  willing  to  have  him  and  his 
salvation  on  any  terms  which  are  safe  and  effectual :  all  these  can  see 
him.  But  others  can  no  more  see  him,  than  the  Jews  could  see 
Christ  in  the  man  Jesus,  who,  they  said,  had  a  devil,  or  than  the  dis- 
ciples, while  yet  carnal,  could  see  the  Father  in  the  Son.  And  this 
Gospel  of  Christ's  second  appearing,  is  so  contrary  to  the  nature  and 
carnal  feelings  of  men,  as  well  as  their  expectations,  who  are  of  the 
earth  and  savour  the  things  of  the  earth,  that  it  is  inferior,  if  possible, 
to  the  foolishness  of  God,  and  its  followers  meaner  than  the  filth  of 
the  world  and  the  offscouring  of  all  things.  But  they  seek  that  honour 
which  Cometh  from  God  only. 

Now  while  God  is  thus  attending  to  the  great  work  of  redemp- 
tion, it  is  not  contrary  to  the  wisdom,  nor  to  the  equity  and  love  in 
which  he  so  much  abounds  to  his  creatures,  to  call  them  by  many 
providential  movements,  from  one  country  to  another,  or  from  one 
condition  of  life  to  another,  where  they  will  be  more  likely  to  receive 
the  Gospel,  and  subserve  the  great  end,  knowing  at  what  period  it 
will  be  proper  to  introduce  the  Gospel  into  certain  places.      "  For  he 


OP    THE    TIMES    AND    SEASONS.  199 

hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  the  face 
of  the  whole  earth,  and  hath  determined  the  times  and  seasons  be- 
fore appointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation ;  that  they 
should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him  and  find 
him."  (Acts  xvii.  26,  27.)  This  then  is  the  purpose  of  God  in  all 
his  providential  movements,  that  men  may  be  brought  to  seek  after 
God  and  find  him  to  their  salvation.  And  when  the  Gospel  is  sent 
to  any  country  or  people,  they  who  are  obedient  will  be  blessed  and 
will  prosper,  but  the  disobedient  will  fall  under  the  curse  and  be  de- 
stroyed, for  God  will  dispose  of  the  people  according  to  their  doings, 
as  freely  as  the  potter  does  his  clay,  forming  of  it  such  a  vessel  as  it 
is  fit  to  make.  "  Then  I  went  down  to  the  potter's  house  ;  and  be- 
hold, he  wrought  a  work  on  the  wheels.  And  the  vessel  that  he  made 
of  clay  was  marred  in  the  hand  of  the  potter  ;  so  he  made  it  again 
another  vessel,  as  seemed  good  to  the  potter  to  make  it.  Then  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me,  saying,  O  house  of  Israel,  cannot  I  do 
with  you  as  this  potter  ?  saith  the  Lord.  Behold,  as  the  clay  is  in 
the  potter's  hand,  so  are  ye  in  mine  hand,  O  house  of  Israel.  At 
what  instant  I  shall  speak  concerning  a  nation,  and  concerning  a  king- 
dom, to  pluck  up  and  to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy  it ;  if  that  nation, 
against  whom  I  have  pronounced,  turn  from  their  evil,  I  will  repent 
of  the  evil  that  I  thought  to  do  unto  them.  And  at  what  instant  I 
shall  speak  concerning  a  nation,  and  concerning  a  kingdom,  to  build 
and  to  plant  it ;  if  it  do  evil  in  my  sight,  that  it  obey  not  my  voice, 
then  I  will  repent  of  the  good  wherewith  I  said  I  would  benefit  them." 
(Jer.  xviii.  3-10.) 

I  have  heard  it  argued  that  the  man  who  was  hired  into  the  vineyard 
at  the  eleventh  hour,  received  equal  wages  with  those  who  entered 
in  the  morning,  and  it  seems  to  be  used  as  a  plea  that  any  time  will 
do  to  enter  into  the  work  of  Christ.  And  it  is,  no  doubt,  a  pleasing 
cloak  to  those  who  hate  to  serve  God  in  the  Spirit,  or  to  follow  Christ 
bearing  his  cross  and  his  reproach,  and  are  glad  of  a  pretext  to  keep 
out  of  the  narrow  way  as  long  as  they  dare.  But  it  is  a  wretched  and 
horrible  deception,  like  the  rest  of  the  devil's  fabrications,  who  is 
subtle  enough  to  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  with  great  dexterity.  And 
who  is  so  blind,  unless  willfully  so,  as  not  to  see  in  a  moment,  that 
the  account  ministers  no  kind  of  pretext  for  any  delay  in  those  who 
hear  the  Gospel .''  or  any  ground  of  hope,  that  matters  will  eventuate 
as  favourably  with  those  who  delay  as  with  those  who  enter  in  at  the 
first  call  ^  So  did  they  who  went  in  at  the  eleventh  hour  ;  they  made 
no  delay,  but  went  in  immediately.  Had  they  been  invited  in  the 
morning  early,  and  stayed  away  until  then,  the  event  would  not  have 
been  so  favourable  as  it  was.  And  to  what  does  this  parable  relate  ? 
to  the  people  entering  into  heaven,  or  final  glorification  ?  Can  any 
one  suppose  that  they  who  are  finally  redeemed  in  the  evening  of  the 
day  of  redemption,  will  feel  or  make  any  murmurings  against  their 
Lord  and  Master,  for  making  others  as  happy  as  they  ?  Never. 
This  is  a  crooked  serpent,  found  in  some  of  those  who  have  gained 
but  little  if  any  thing  in  the  work  of  the  Gospel,  and  envies  that 
others  should  participate  in  the  same  blessings  equally  with  them, 
especially  those  who  are  called  in  much  later  than  themselves  :  they 
are  high-minded  and  love  the  pre-eminence.     But  the  good-man  of 


200  OF  THE  TIMES  AND  SEASONS. 

the  house  will  give  the  last,  who  came  in  at  his  call,  an  equal  privilege 
with  the  first.  But  woe  to  them  that  neglect  the  call,  to  wait  for 
another  time  :  they  shall  he  found  in  the  comiDany  of  the  foolish 
virgins  who  neglected  to  provide  oil  in  their  vessels  untH  the  hour 
had  passed. 

The  natural  conclusion,  therefore,  of  all  these  things  is,  that  wher- 
ever the  Gospel  is  opened  in  any  land,  and  the  people  hear  and  re- 
ceive faith,  it  is  the  immediate  duty  of  each  one  to  repair  to  the 
standard  and  put  his  faith  into  practice  by  obedience,  for  the  time  is 
come  ;  like  Paul,  who,  when  he  first  believed,  immediately  conferred 
not  with  flesh  and  blood.  For,  however  true  that  God  has  kept  in 
his  own  power  the  times  and  the  seasons  for  the  opening  of  the  Gos- 
pel, he  has  laid  no  injunction,  given  no  liberty,  nor  left  the  least 
ground  of  encouragement  to  make  any  delay  after  believing  ;  after 
hearing  the  Gospel  and  feeling  any  conviction  or  apprehension  of  its 
truth,  but  on  the  contrary,  "  To-day^  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden 
not  your  hearts."  "For  he  will  finish  the  work  and  cut  it  short  in 
righteousness  :  because  a  short  work  will  the  Lord  make  upon  the 
earth."  All  they  who  believe  in  the  heart,  as  Paul  has  expressed  it, 
or  with  all.  the  heart,  as  Philip  said  to  the  eunuch  ;  that  is,  they  whose 
faith  works  by  love  and  is  accompanied  with  the  determination  of  the 
heart  to  the  Gospel  when  believed,  will  not  delay.  He  that  in  an 
honest  and  good  heart  hears  the  word  of  the  kingdom  brings  forth  fruit. 
The  work  of  Christ  is  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness  and  to 
make  an  end  of  sin.  And  in  doing  this  he  will  make  havoc  with  the 
wickedness  of  the  world,  and  with  the  wicked  who  will  not  forsake 
their  sins.  "According  to  their  deeds  accordingly  he  will  repay." 
The  Hebrew  text  is  emphatical  and  very  strong  ;  [:  Th'\i!^  h)!2  mSaJ  '7;'^] 
'•'•  Recompensing  according  to  works  aecording  to  works  he  will  repay  ; 
fury  to  his  adversaries,  recompense  to  his  enemies ;  to  the  islands  [or 
nations]  he  will  repay  recompense."  Every  man,  therefore,  may 
expect  to  receive  in  full  proportion  according  to  his  works. 

How  long  will  men  weary  the  patience  of  God  ;  it  would  seem  as  though 
some  encourage  themselves  in  sin,  because  the  judgments  of  God  have 
been  so  long  announced  against  sin,  and  yet  they  are  not  cut  ofi^.  But 
cannot  the  ungodly  consider,  that  these  judgments  have  been  executed 
on  the  multitudes  of  the  disobedient  from  age  to  age,  who  have  felt  the 
weight  of  their  iniquities  and  sunk  under  the  curse,  and  that  they  also 
will  soon  experience  the  same  destruction,  without  a  prompt  repentance. 
But  some  see  others  in  the  same  ungodly  and  indifferent  situation  with 
themselves,  and  yet  not  cut  off,  and  why  should  they  fear  ?  "  Because 
sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily,  therefore  the 
heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set  in  them  td  do  evil."  (EccL  viii. 
11.)  Thus  men  may  look  one  on  another,  and  wait  to  see  what  will 
become  of  each  other  until  both  are  ruined,  as  many  are  doing  at  this 
day.  But  the  wise  will  remember,  and  the  disobedient  must  know,  that 
"he  that  being  often  reproved,  hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be 
destroyed  and  that  without  remedy."  "  What  if  God,  willing  to  show 
his  wrath  and  make  his  power  known,  endured  with  much  long  suffer- 
ing the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction."  It  appears  as  though 
many  conclude  according  to  the  proverb,  while  there  is  life  there  is  hope, 
that  as  long  as  life  lasts  they  may  at  any  time  become  obedient  and  be 


OF    THE    TIMES    AND    SEASONS.  201 

saved  ;  and  thus  they  get  some  ease.  But  these  are  blinded,  snared 
and  taken  by  the  enemy.  These  can  be  no  better  than  willfully  sinners, 
willfully  and  wantonly  provoking  God.  And  what  saith  the  Scripture  ? 
"  If  we  sin  willfully  after  that  we  have  received  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins,  but  a  certain  fearful 
expectation  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation  which  shall  devour  the 
adversary."  It  is  then  evident  that  people  may,  by  sinning  against  light, 
shut  the  door  of  heaven  against  themselves,  while  they  have  yet  years 
to  live,  and  heap  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.  Behold,  now  is 
the  accepted  time  ;  behold,  nov/  is  the  day  of  salvation.  To-day^  if  ye 
will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts. 

And  for  the  same  reasons,  it  is  the  duty,  the  indispensable  duty,  of 
all  those  who  hear  the  Gospel  testimony,  to  open  their  ears  with  freedom 
and  without  prejudice,  while  its  ministers  reason  with  them  ;  to  be  like 
the  noble  Bereans,  who  searched  the  Scriptures  daily  to  see  whether 
these  things  were  so.  The  leading  cause  of  unbelief,  as  before  shown, 
is  an  unwillingness  to  receive  salvation  by  the  way  of  the  cross — an  un- 
willingness that  this  should  be  the  true  Gospel — an  unwillingness  that 
the  spirit  should  be  saved  at  the  expense  of  the  life  and  very  existence 
of  the  flesh,  or  carnal  mind — an  unwillingness  to  forego  the  present 
sensual  fleshly  enjoyments  and  pursuits  to  obtain  future  blessedness  and 
glory  in  the  spirit,  as  well  as  present  peace  with  God.  People  v/ould 
rather  salvation  could  be  had  some  other  way.  But  God  is  most  wise  ; 
gracious  and  not  cruel.  He  maketh  the  way  as  strait  and  narrow  as  it 
ought  to  be,  and  no  narrower.  Let  the  people  consider  these  things, 
and  feel  into  their  own  consciences,  whether  the  opposition  in  their 
own  breasts  be  not  that  which  renders  the  Gospel  of  Christ's  second 
appearing  dark  and  objectionable,  more  than  any  lack  of  evidence  or 
conviction. 

This  is  the  will  of  the  Father,  that  whosoever  seeth  the  Son  and 
believeth  on  him,  may  have  everlasting  life.  If  it  be  not  the  will  of 
God,  or  if  he  does  not  require,  that  they  who  have  never  heard  the  Gospel 
should  believe,  until  the  Gospel  is  sent  to  them,  it  is  the  will  of  God  that 
they  who  hear  and  believe  should  obey  without  farther  neglect.  There- 
fore, "  Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness  ;  reap  in  mercy,  break  up 
your  fallow  ground ;  for  it  is  time  to  seek  the  Lord  till  he  come  and 
rain  righteousness  upon  you."  (Hos.  x.  12.)  "  Blessed  are  they  who 
hear  the  word  of  God  and  keen  it." 


PART    II. 

ORDER    AND    POWER 

OF 

THE   CHURCH  OF  CHRIST, 


INCLUDING  CERTAIN  MARKS  AND  EVIDENCES  WHEREBY  IT  MAY  BE 
KNOWN  AND  DISTINGUISHED  FROM  ALL  OTHERS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  APPOINTED  AND  CORRECT  ORDER  OF  GOD  FOR  THE  CONFES- 
SION AND  FORGIVENESS  OP  SINS. 

It  will  readily  be  granted  that  it  is  just  and  proper  to  confess  our 
sins  to  God,  against  whom  all  have  sinned,  and  who  is  Judge  of  all. 
And  none  who  correctly  believe  the  Scriptures  will  deny,  that  confes- 
sion is  necessary  to  obtain  God's  forgiveness.  For,  "  He  that  cover- 
eth  his  sins  shall  not  prosper ;  but  whoso  confesseth  them  shall  find 
mercy."  And,  "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  for- 
give us  our  sins."  But  if  we  confess  to  God  we  must  have  access  to 
him :  and  that  access  must  be  in  a  way  of  his  own  laying  out,  as  we 
shall  prove. 

Some  imagine  that  God  may  be  found  in  any  place  and  every  where 
because  he  fills  immensity.  And  it  is  true  God  may  be  found  in  ail 
places  and  in  all  things,  but  not  to  the  same  purpose  and  effect.  Thus 
God  is  seen  in  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  air  and  the  water.  But  the 
sun  does  not  shine  by  night,  nor  the  moon  by  day  ;  the  fowls  cannot 
fly  in  the  water  nor  the  fish  swim  in  the  air ;  the  air  does  not  supply 
men  with  drink,  nor  the  water  with  breath  ;  every  thing  has  its  own 
time,  order  and  place,  in  which  it  is  acceptable  with  God  and  profitable 
to  men.  And  God  is  no  less  orderly  in  things  of  a  spiritual  nature, 
than  in  those  of  a  more  temporal ;  as  says  the  Apostle :  "  There  are 
differences  of  administrations,  but  the  same  Lord  ;  and  there  are  diver- 
sities of  operations  but  it  is  the  same  God  who  worketh  all  in  all." 

Among  other  requisitions  of  God  from  fallen  man,  the  confession  of 
sins  has  its  proper  place  and  order ;  and  in  that  order  alone  God  is  ac- 
cessible to  hear  and  forgive.  This  is  manifest  from  both  the  law  and 
the  Gospel.  For  the  law,  though  an  outward  dispensation,  and  did  not 
save  from  sin,  or  cleanse  the  people  as  pertaining  to  the  conscience, 
was  a  just  and  correct  shadow,  and  pattern  of  the  saving  work  of  Christ 


204  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

in  the  Gospel.  "  The  Holy  Ghost  this  signifying,  that  the  way  into 
the  holiest  of  all  was  not  yet  made  manifest,  while  as  the  first  taberna- 
cle was  yet  standing :  which  was  a  figure  for  the  time  then  present,  in 
which  were  offered  both  gifts  and  .sacrifices  that  could  not  make  him 
that  did  the  service  perfect,  as  pertaining  to  the  conscience  ;  which 
stood  only  in  meats  and  drinks  and  divers  washings  and  carnal  ordi- 
nances [or  justifications  of  the  flesh]  imposed  on  them  until  the  times 
of  reformation.  But  Christ,  being  come,  an  high  priest  of  good  things 
to  come,  by  a  greater  and  more  perfect  tabernacle,  not  made  with 
hands,  that  is  to  say  not  of  this  building,  neither  by  the  blood  of  goats 
and  calves,  but  by  his  own  blood,  he  entered  in  once  into  the  holy 
place,  having  obtained  [Greek,  having  found,  being  the  first  who  ever 
did]  eternal  redemption."  (Heb.  ix.  S-12.)  The  law  of  Moses,  then, 
being  a  pattern  of  the  Gospel,  we  will  take  a  view  of  the  order  of  con- 
fessing sins  under  that  dispensation ;  by  which  it  will  appear,  that  God 
had  but  one  medium  in  all  the  earth,  and  that  in  only  one  place  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose,  through  which  he  was  accessible  for  the  con- 
fession of  sins  and  obtaining  forgiveness. 

After  the  departure  of  the  children  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses  to  build  a  tabernacle  and  to  put  therein  the  ark  of 
the  covenant,  the  mercy-seat,  and  other  implements  of  service,  and  to 
build  an  altar  for  burnt-offerings,  and  sacrifices  for  sins,  and  for  cleans- 
ing the  unclean.  That  tabernacle  was  called  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation. And  that  congregation  was  the  first  church  which  God  ever 
had  on  earth  formed,  and  constituted  in  order  ;  so  that  these  institutions 
were  the  beginning,  or  first  principles  of  order  among  the  people  of 
God.  To  the  door  of  that  tabernacle  God  commanded  them  to  bring 
all  their  sacrifices  and  sin-offerings,  that  they  might  be  offered  on  the 
altar.  And  when  they  sinned  by  breaking  any  of  the  commandments 
of  God,  if  they  made  their  offering  in  the  appointed  place  and  according 
to  the  law,  there  was  an  atonement  made,  and  their  sin  was  forgiven. 
And  that  there  was  no  other  place  on  earth  in  which  they  could  be  ac- 
cepted in  these  things,  appears  evident  from  the  following  Scriptures  : 
"  What  man  soever  there  be  of  the  house  of  Israel,  that  killeth  an  ox,  or 
lamb,  or  goat  in  the  camp,  or  that  killeth  it  out  of  the  camp,  and  bring- 
eth  it  not  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to  offer 
an  offering  unto  the  Lord  before  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord  ;  blood 
shall  be  imputed  unto  that  man ;  he  hath  shed  blood ;  and  that 
man  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  the  people :  to  the  end  that  the 
children  of  Israel  may  bring  their  sacrifices  which  they  offer  in  the 
open  field,  even  that  they  may  bring  them  to  the  Lord,  to  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to  the  priest  and  offer  them 
for  peace-offerings  before  the  Lord.  And  they  shall  no  more  of- 
fer their  sacrifices  to  devils,  after  whom  they  have  gone  a  whoring. 
This  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  to  them,  throughout  their  genera- 
tions. And  thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  Whatsoever  man  there  be 
of  the  house  of  Israel  or  of  the  strangers  who  sojourn  among  3'ou,  that 
offereth  a  burnt-offering  or  a  sacrifice,  and  bringeth  it  not  to  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to  offer  it  to  the  Lord,  even  that 
man  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  his  people."  (Levit.  xvii.  3,  &c.) 
And  again,  "  These  are  the  statutes  and  judgments  which  ye  shall  ob- 
serve to  do  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  God  of  thy  fathers  giveth  thee 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  205 

to  possess  it,  all  the  days  that  ye  live  upon  the  earth.  Ye  shall  utter- 
ly destroy  all  the  places  wherein  the  nations  which  ye  shall  possess 
served  their  gods,  upon  the  high  mountains,  and  upon  the  hills  and  un- 
der every  green  tree.  Ye  shall  not  do  so  to  the  Lord  your  God.  But 
to  the  place  which  the  Lord  your  God  shall  choose  out  of  all  your 
tribes  to  put  his  name  there,  even  to  his  habitation  shall  ye  seek,  and 
thither  thou  shalt  come  :  and  thither  ye  shall  bring  your  burnt-offerings, 
and  your  sacrifices,  and  your  tithes,  and  your  heave-offerings  of  your 
hand,  and  your  vows,  and  your  free-will-offerings.  Ye  shall  not  do  af- 
ter all  the  things  that  ye  do  here  this  day,  every  man  whatsoever  is 
right  in  his  own  eyes.  Take  heed  to  thyself,  that  thou  offer  not  thy  burnt- 
offerings  in  every  place  that  thou  seest :  but  in  the  place  which  the  Lord 
shall  choose  in  one  of  thy  tribes,  there  thou  shalt  offer  thy  burnt-offer- 
ings, and  there  thou  shalt  do  all  that  I  command  thee."  (Deut.  xii.  1, 
&c.)  Thus  we  see  that  God  had  one  appointed  place  in  v/hich  alone 
the  people  could  find  access  to  him  in  offering  their  sacrifices,  and  per- 
forming the  service  which  he  required.  And  the  same  order  was  con- 
tinued in  the  temple  which  superseded  the  tabernacle  in  the  days  of 
Solomon,  as  is  manifest  from  his  own  words  :  "  But  will  God  indeed 
dwell  on  the  earth:  Behold,  the  heaven,  and  the  heaven  of  heavens 
cannot  contain  thee  ;  how  much  less  this  house  that  I  have  builded .' 
Yet  have  thou  respect  to  the  prayer  of  thy  serv.int,  and  to  his  suppli- 
cation, 0  Lord  my  God,  to  hearken  to  the  cry  and  to  the  prayer  which 
thy  servant  prayeth  before  thee  to-day :  That  thine  eyes  may  be  open 
towards  this  house  night  and  day,  even  towards  the  place  of  which 
thou  hast  said  :  My  name  shall  be  there,  that  thou  mayest  hearken  to 
the  prayer  which  thy  servant  shall  make  tovi^ards  this  place."  (1  Kings 
viii,  27",  &c.) 

When  the  children  of  Israel  came  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  where 
the  whole  congregation  might  come,  they  could  not  even  there  have 
immediate  access  to  God.  They  could  neither  confess  their  sins  nor 
offer  their  sin-offerings,  nor  perform  any  other  part  of  their  service, 
immediately  to  him  ;  but  all  these  things  were  done  through  the  priests 
who  were  a  medium  ordained  of  God  for  that  purpose.  Accordingly, 
if  any  man  offered  an  offering  to  God,  he  must  bring  it  to  the  priest,  and 
if  he  would  confess  his  sin  to  God,  he  must  tell  it  to  the  priest.  And 
that  this  was  the  correct  and  true  order  of  God  by  which  he  communi- 
cated his  will  to  the  people  and  was  accessible  by  them,  is  fairly  and 
conclusively  proved  by  the  instructions  given  to  Moses  on  that  subject. 
First,  God  says  to  Moses  concerning  Aaron,  "  And  he  shall  be  thy 
spokesman  [in  the  Hebrew,  for  a  mouthj  to  the  people  :  and  he  shall 
be,  even  he  shall  be  to  thee  instead  of  a  mouth,  and  thou  shalt  be  to 
him  instead  of  God."  And  again:  "  See  I  have  made  thee  God  to 
Pharaoh,  and  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  be  thy  prophet."  (Exo. 
iv.  IG,  and  vii.  1.)  This  is  the  exact  purport  of  the  Hebrew  text. 
Moses  was  not  made  a  god  distinct  from  the  one  true  God,  but  was  made 
to  be  God  to  Pharaoh  ;  he  stood  as  God,  and  was  as  it  were  the  exhibition 
of  God  to  Pharaoh,  to  show  him  God's  will,  and  to  execute  his  judg- 
ments. And  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  be  thy  prophet.  God  must  have  a 
prophet.  When  Jehovah  made  Moses  God  to  Pharaoh,  and  when  he 
made  him  God  to  the  children  of  Israel  his  brethren,  Aaron  was  in  both 
cases  his  prophet,  or  spokesman,  for  without  prophet  and  priest  there 


206  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

is  1)0  communication  from  God,  and  no  access  to  him.  Thus  Aaron 
was  ordained  the  mouth  of  God  to  the  people  of  Israel  as  well  as  to 
Pharaoh  and  his  subjects. 

The  same  Aaron  and  his  sons  were  afterwards  consecrated  a  contin- 
ual priesthood  before  God,  to  stand  between  God  and  the  people,  to  min- 
ister to  the  Lord  from  their  hands,  and  to  inquire  of  God  for  them  and  to 
make  atonement.     For  thus  the  Lord  commanded  Moses :     "  Take 
unto  thee  Aaron  thy  brother,  and  his  sons  with  him,  from  among 
the  children  of  Israel,  that  they   may  minister  to  me   in  the  priest's 
office,  even  Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  Eleazar  and   Ithamar,  Aaron's 
sons.     And  thou  shalt  make  holy  garments  for  Aaron  thy  brother,  for 
glory  and  for  beauty.     And  thou  shalt  put  them  upon    Aaron   thy 
brother,  and  his  sons  with  him  ;  and  shalt  anoint  them,  and  consecrate 
them,  and  sanctify  them,  that  they  may  minister  to  me  in  the  priest's 
office."     And  again  :    "  And  thou  shalt  put  upon  Aaron  the  holy  gar- 
ments, and  anoint  him,  and  sanctify  him  :  that  he  may  minister  to  me 
in  the  priest's  office.     And  thou  shalt  bring  his  sons  and  clothe  them 
with  coats.     And  thou  shalt  anoint  them  as  thou  didst  anoint  their 
father,  that  they  may  minister  to  me  in  the  priest's  office :  for  their 
anointing  shall  surely  be  an  everlasting  priesthood  throughout  their  gen- 
erations."    "  And  Aaron  shall  bear  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel 
in  the  breastplate  of  judgment  upon  his  heart,  when  he  goeth  in  unto  the 
holy  place,  for  a  memorial  before  the  Lord  continually.     And  thou  shalt 
put  on  the  breast  plate  of  judgment  the  Urim  and  the  Thummim ;  and  they 
shall  be  upon  Aaron's  heart  when  he  goeth  in  before  the  Lord  ;  and 
Aaron  shall  bear  the  judgment  of  the  children  of  Israel  upon  his  heart 
before  the  Lord  continuall3\"     "  And  thou  shalt  make  a  plate  of  pure 
gold,  and  grave  upon  it,  like  the  engraving  of  a  signet.  Holiness  to  the 
Lord.     And  thou  shall  put  it  on  a  blue  lace,  that  it  maybe  upon  the 
mitre :  upon  the  fore-front  of  the  mitre   it  shall  be.     And   it  .shall  be 
upon  Aaron's  forehead,  that  Araon  may  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  holy 
things,  which  the  children  of  Israel  shall  hallow  in  their  holy  gifts  :  and 
it  shall  be  always  upon  his  forehead,  that  they  may  be  accepted  before 
the  Lord."    (Exod.  xxviii.  1,  &c.,  and  xl.  13,  &c.     Thus  Aaron  and 
his  sons  were  consecrated  a  continual  priesthood,  and  their  duty  and 
burden  clearly  delineated. 

To  this  priesthood  the  Israelites  were  commanded  to  bring  all  their 
offerings  for  sin,  and  all  other  gifts  which  they  presented  to  God  ;  and 
the  priests  were  commanded  to  receive  and  offer  them,  and  to  make  atone- 
ment. For  thus  it  is  written  :  "  And  he  [who  hath  trespassed]  shall 
bring  his  trespass-offering  unto  the  Lord,  a  ram  without  blemish  out  of 
the  flock,  with  thy  estimation,  for  a  trespass-offering  unto  the  priest. 
And  the  priest  shall  make  an  atonement  for  him  before  the  Lord  ;  and 
it  shall  be  forgiven  him,  for  any  thing  of  all  that  he  hath  done,  in  tres- 
passing therein."  It  is  however  to  be  remembered  that  in  the  case  of 
trespassing  against  men  a  restoration  was  to  be  made  to  the  owner  of 
the  article,  of  the  principal  with  one  fifth  part  in  addition.  But  it  is 
written  farther :  "  And  when  any  will  offer  a  meat-offering  unto  the 
Lord,  his  offering  shall  be  of  fine  flour  ;  and  he  shall  pour  oil  upon  it, 
and  put  frankincense  thereon.  And  he  shall  bring  it  to  Aaron's  sons, 
the  priests."  Once  more  :  "  And  if  a  soul  sin,  and  commit  any  of 
these  things  which  are  forbidden  to  be  done  by  the  commandments  of 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  207 

the  Lord  ;  though  he  wist  it  not,  yet  is  he  guilty,  and  shall  bear  his 
iniquity.  And  he  shall  bring  a  ram  without  blemish  out  of  the  flock, 
with  thy  estimation,  for  a  trespass-offering,  tmto  the  priest :  and  the 
priest  shall  make  an  atonement  for  him  concerning  his  ignorance  where- 
in he  erred,  and  wist  it  not,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  It  is  a  tres- 
pass-offering ;  he  hath  certainly  trespassed  against  the  Lord  .'"'  and  yet 
we  see,  his  offering  was  brought  to  the  priest.  These  things,  together 
with  many  in  the  beginning  of  the  book  of  Leviticus,  confirm  the  fact, 
that  all  their  gifts,  as  their  meat-offerings,  peace-offerings,  and  sin- 
ofterings,  were  to  be  presented  to  the  priests.  And  out  of  this  line  of 
order  no  acceptable  offerings  could  be  made  to  God,  nor  any  forgive- 
ness obtained  as  already  proved.  For  whether  the  whole  congrega- 
tion had  sinned,  or  an  individual,  whether  a  ruler  or  one  of  the  com- 
mon people  ;  and  whether  a  sin  of  ignorance  brought  to  knowledge,  or 
whatever  was  the  sin,  or  of  whatever  nature  within  the  reach  of  par- 
don ;  in  a  word,  whether  one  only  had  sinned  or  all ;  it  was  expressly 
commanded,  that  they  should  bring  their  offerings  to  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  to  the  priest,  and  the  priest  should  offer 
them  before  the  Lord  upon  the  altar,  and  make  an  atonement  for  them. 
Not  the  Lord  shall  make  an  atonement,  but  the  priest,  who  ministered 
at  the  time,  he  shall  make  an  atonement ;  he  shall  bring  about  a  recon- 
ciliation. Now  the  high  priest  bore  the  sins  and  the  judgment  of  the 
people  and  of  their  offerings  which  they  brought  to  the  ministering 
priest. 

But  not  only  were  they  required  to  bring  their  offerings  to  the  priests, 
which  they  offered  to  God,  but  also  in  the  same  order  and  by  the  same 
medium  to  confess  to  God  the  sins  which  they  had  committed  against 
him.  This  was  the  exclusive  order  under  the  law,  whereby  to  obtain 
forgiveness.  The  confession  had  to  be  made  before  the  offering  was 
presented,  or  as  it  was  first  presenting  to  the  priest ;  as  it  is  written 
concerning  the  trespass-offering :  "  And  it  shall  be,  when  he  shall  be 
guilty  in  one  of  these  things,  that  he  shall  confess  that  he  hath  sinned 
in  that  thing.  And  he  shall  bring  his  trespass-offering  unto  the  Lord, 
for  his  sin  which  he  hath  sinned,  a  female  from  the  flock,  a  lamb  or  a 
kid  of  the  goats,  for  a  sin-offering  ;  and  the  priest  shall  make  an  atone- 
ment for  him  concerning  his  sin."  Now  that  the  confession  was  to  be 
made  to  the  priest,  or  to  God  in  him,  is  made  evident  thus  :  The 
priest  was  the  minister  of  God,  the  onh*  Mediator,  [jTiyD  the  Messiah 
or  Christ  of  that  day,]  through  whom  the  people  had  access  to  God, 
as  proved.  The  conclusion  therefore  is  rational  and  just  that  the  con- 
fession was  made  to  the  priest. 

But  farther  :  inasmuch  as  the  priest's  office  was  to  receive  the  sacri- 
fice and  make  the  atonement  for,  or  to  cover,  the  particular  sin  for  which 
the  offering  was  made,  an  irresistible  necessity  existed  that  he  should 
be  made  acquainted  with  the  sin  and  all  the  criminal  circumstances 
which  attended  it.  The  ritual  also  was  different  in  the  atonement  for 
one  sin  from  that  of  another  ;  which  adds  to  the  evidence,  that  the  con- 
fession of  every  sin  was  to  be  made  particularly  to  the  priest,  that  he 
might  know  with  clearness  and  certainty  for  what  sin  he  had  to  atone, 
and  therefore  what  ritual  he  had  to  perform.  Accordingly  it  was  com- 
manded, that  "  when  a  man  or  woman  shall  commit  any  sin  that  men 
commit,  to  do  a  trespass  against  the  Lord,  and  that  person  be  guilty, 


208  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

then  they  shall  confess  their  sin,  which  they  have  done."  (Num.  v.  6, 
7.)  And  again  :  "  He  shall  confess  that  he  hath  sinned  in  that  thing." 
Every  sin  therefore  vv^hich  men  committed  in  that  day,  had  to  he  ex- 
posed to  the  priest,  God's  minister  and  witness,  before  there  could  be 
any  forgiveness  or  atonement.  Even  in  cases  where  no  actual  sin  was 
committed  or  known,  but  only  the  tokens  and  effects  of  the  sin,  or  cor- 
ruption and  depravity  of  nature,  as  in  the  case  of  leprosy,  the  whole 
matter  must  be  exposed  to  the  priest.  "  When  the  plague  of  leprosy 
is  in  a  man,  then  he  shall  be  brought  to  the  priest ;"  and  he  must  show 
himself  to  him  ;  as  Jesus  said  to  the  man  whom  he  had  cleansed,  "  Go, 
show  thyself  to  the  priest,  and  otfer  the  gift  which  Moses  commanded 
for  a  testimony  unto  them."  (Lev.  xiii.  9  ;  Mat.  viii.  4.)  And  let 
them  see  that  thou  also  walkest  uprightly  according  to  the  law.  Or  if 
the  plague  of  leprosy  was  in  a  house,  (now  the  house  could  not  sin  but 
the  inhabitants  or  owners,)  the  whole  matter  must  be  exposed  to  the 
priest.  "  And  he  that  owneth  the  house  shall  come  and  tell  the  priest 
saying,  it  seemeth  to  me  there  is  as  it  were  a  plague  in  the  house  :" 
and  so  of  other  things.  So  that  in  that  day  and  under  that  dispensa- 
tion, no  sin  could  be  forgiven,  no  atonement  made,  no  reconciliation 
could  exist  between  God  and  the  sinner,  until  the  sin  was  first  exposed 
to  the  priest,  God's  minister  and  witness.  "  Here  is  a  transgressor ; 
he  brings  a  lamb  to  the  altar,  lays  his  hand  upon  its  head,  and  con- 
fesses his  sins,     (See  B  W.  Stone's  Letters  on  Atonement.) 

Another  convincing  proof  that  the  confession  of  sins  under  the 
law  was  made  to  the  priest,  or  minister  of  God,  is  found  in  the  ac- 
count given  by  Ezra  the  priest,  of  the  events  which  took  place  when 
the  Jews  returned  to  Jerusalem  from  the  Babylonish  captivity. 
Their  sin  was  no  secret;  there  was  therefore  no  need  of  confessing, 
it  to  make  it  known  :  it  was  already  public.  But  to  remove  the  sin, 
confession  was  necessary  as  well  as  forsaking.  And  this  must  be  done 
according  to  the  law.  (For  they  were  now  beginning  to  be  restored 
to  their  ancient  privileges,  and  it  was  necessary  to  keep  the  law.) 
Their  sin  was  in  taking  wives  of  other  nations.  This  was  the  sin  to 
he  removed  :  "  And  let  it  be  done  according  to  the  law."  Now,  the 
law  required  a  confession  as  the  first  step.  "Now,  therefore,"  said 
Ezra,  the  priest,  "  make  confession  to  the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers, 
and  do  his  pleasure  ;  and  separate  yourselves  from  the  people  of  the 
land,  and  from  the  strange  wives.  Then  all  the  congregation  an- 
swered, and  said,  with  a  loud  voice  :  As  thou  hast  said,  so  must  we 
do.  But  the  people  are  many,  and  it  is  a  time  of  much  rain,  and  we 
are  not  able  to  stand  without,  neither  is  this  a  work  of  one  day  or  two  ; 
for  we  are  many  that  have  transgessed  in  this  thing."  Had  the  con- 
fession heen  to  God,  without  a  mediator,  or  priesthood,  or  certain  men 
to  serve  in  that  ofiice  as  God's  ministers  or  witnesses,  a  hundred  thou- 
sand of  them  could  have  confessed  as  soon  as  one  man.  On  that  sup- 
position there  would  have  been  no  propriety  in  their  saying.  Neither 
is  this  a  loork  of  one  day  or  two  ;  for  we  are  muny  that  have  transgressed 
in  this  thing.  Neither  was  there  any  cause  why  they  must  wait  about 
the  temple,  or  stay  in  Jerusalem  to  put  away  their  strange  wives;  they 
could  have  done  that  at  home,  would  it  have  sufficed  to  have  done  that 
privately,  or  before  God,  without  a  witness.  But  all  these  things  must 
be  done,  or  agreed  upon,  and  the  confession  made,  in  the  presence  of 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS,  209 

men — God's  witnesses.  Hence  they  continued:  "  Let  now  our  rulers 
of  all  the  congregation  stand,  and  let  all  them  who  have  taken  strange 
wives  in  our  cities  come  at  appointed  times,  and  with  them  the  elders 
of  every  city,  and  the  judges  thereof,  until  the  fierce  wrath  of  our 
God  for  this  matter  be  turned  from  us."  Thus  we  see  they  under- 
stood that  the  fierce  wrath  of  God  could  be  turned  from  them  by  com- 
ing to  these  men  who  should  stand  to  wait  on  them,  and  by  no  other 
method.  "  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  so.  And  Ezra  the  priest., 
with  certain  chief  of  the  fathers,  after  the  house  of  their  fathers,  and 
all  of  them  b II  their  names.,  sff eve  separated,  and  sat  down  in  the  first 
day  of  the  tenth  month  to  examine  the  matter."  To  see  that  the  peo- 
ple did  as  they  had  promised  to  do,  to  make  confession  to  the  Lord  God 
of  their  fathers.  Thus  they  confessed  to  him,  and  told  Ezra  and  those 
who  were  separated  with  him  what  they  had  done.  Now  Ezra  was 
the  priest.  This  was  confessing  to  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  and 
so  they  accounted  it.  "  And  they  made  an  end  with  all  the  men  that 
had  taken  strange  wives  by  the  first  day  of  the  first  month."  A  work 
of  three  full  months,  because  all  had  to  be  done  according  to  law. 
(Ezra  chap,  x.) 

Another  example  of  the  manner  of  confessing  sins  to  God  under  the 
law  is  set  forth  in  the  history  of  Achan.  "  And  Joshua  said  unto 
Achan,  My  son,  give,  I  pray  thee,  glory  to  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
and  make  confession  unto  him ;  and  tell  me  [open  up  to  me]  now 
what  thou  hast  done  :  hide  it  not  from  me."  And  Achan  answered 
Joshua,  and  said:  "Indeed  I  have  sinned  against  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel,  and  thus  and  thus  have  I  done  :  when  I  saw  among  the  spoils 
a  goodly  Babylonish  garment,  and  two  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  and 
a  wedge  of  gold  of  fifty  shekels  weight,  then  I  coveted  them,  and  took 
them  ;  and,  behold,  they  are  hid  in  the  earth,  in  the  midst  of  my  tent, 
and  the  silver  under  it."  Thus  Achan  gave  glory  to  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel,  and  made  confession  to  Him,  by  giving  to  Joshua  a  particular 
account  of  the  things  which  he  had  done,  even  to  the  thoughts  of  his 
heart.  "  And  Joshua  sent  messengers  ;  and  they  took  them  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  tent,  and  brought  them  to  Joshua,  and  to  all  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  laid  them  out  before  the  Lord."  But  how  were  they 
laid  out  before  the  Lord  r  Were  they  not  as  much  before  the  Lord  in 
Achan's  tent  as  after  they  were  broughtout  ?  No  doubt  they  were.  But 
they  were  not  before  the  Lord  in  the  order  of  his  judgment  until  they 
were  laid  out  before  his  congregation,  his  witnesses,  and  the  Judges  that 
were  appointed  in  those  days.  To  this  agree  the  words  of  Solomon : 
"  He  that  covereth  his  sins  shall  not  prosper  ;  but  he  that  confesseth 
and  forsaketh  them  shall  have  mercy."  That  confession  which  is 
connected  with  the  promise  is  contrasted  with  covering,  and  there- 
fore implies  uncovering.  But  as  nothing  can  be  hid  from  the  eye  of 
God,  nothing  can  be  laid  open  or  uncovered  before  him  except  as  he 
is  revealed  in  his  witnesses. 

It  is  true,  the  confession  of  Achan  was  not  in  the  established  order, 
for  Joshua  was  not  of  the  priesthood  ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  his  case 
was  not  an  ordinary  case,  his  sin  being  such  as  did  not  admit  of  legal 
atonement  or  forgiveness;  but  when  he  was  detected  by  extraordinary 
means,  and  brought  to  an  open  confession,  he  was  first  stoned,  and  then 
burned,  with  all  that  pertained  to  him.  But  the  order  of  confessing 
15 


210  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

sins  to  God  is  not  at  all  obscured  by  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the 
case,  but  rather  elucidated.  For  although  Joshua  was  not  a  priest, 
he  was  the  minister  and  witness  of  God  to  that  people ;  and  whereas 
he  was  required  to  tell,  or,  as  in  the  Hebrew,  [iJni]  to  open  up,  or 
make  manifest^  to  Joshua  all  his  sin,  in  a  case  which  did  not  admit  of 
confession  and  atonement  by  the  priest,  it  serves  to  confirm  the  fact, 
that  nothing  was  accounted  confession  to  God,  either  in  pardonable  or 
unpardonable  cases,  but  that  which  was  made  to  a  man  in  whom  God 
was  revealed.  And  should  it  be  still  objected  that  Achan's  confession 
could  not  be  a  type  of  the  confession  of  sins  in  the  Gospel,  because  his 
life  was  taken  away  notwithstanding  i  let  it  be  considered  that  it  is 
an  illustrious  exhibition  of  the  order  of  confessing  to  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel :  and  that  is  the  point  which  we  are  now  investigating.  We 
shall  inquire  into  its  application  to  the  Gospel  afterwards.  But  con- 
sider farther  ;  there  is  also  a  sin  which  has  no  forgiveness  in  the  Gos- 
pel, either  in  this  life  or  in  that  which  is  to  come.  And  yet  the  per- 
petrators of  such  sin  will  undoubtedly  be  finally  brought  to  confession. 
For,  "  as  I  live,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  every  knee  shall  bow  to  me,  and 
every  tongue  shall  confess  to  God."    (Matt.  xii.  32  ;  Rom.  xiv.  11.) 

If  the  dispensation  of  the  law  consisted  mainly  in  types  and  sha- 
dows of  things  to  come,  and  those  types  were  outward  and  temporal, 
no  such  benefit,  as  the  result  of  Achan's  confession,  can  be  consider- 
ed as  pertaining  to  him,  but  to  the  congregation  of  Israel,  from 
whom  the  curse  was  removed,  when  he  was  separated  from  them. 
His  confession,  therefore,  is  not  to  be  considered  as  a  type  of  the  con- 
fession of  sins  in  the  Gospel  for  the  deliverance  of  the  individual 
confessors.  For,  in  that  case,  to  make  the  type  complete  and  con- 
sistent, he  must  have  received  a  typical  salvation  answerable  to  that 
in  the  Gospel ;  and,  congenial  with  that  dispensation  under  which  he 
lived,  his  life  must  have  been  preserved.  Whatever  benefit  Achan 
might  acquire  to  his  soul,  by  his  honest  and  punctual  confession,  after 
he  was  detected,  no  such  benefit  can,  consistently,  be  reckoned  a 
figure,  or  type,  as  that  would  be  making  the  substance  a  shadow  of 
the  substance. 

The  valley  in  which  Achan  was  made  an  example  is  called  the 
valley  of  Achor  ;  and  to  that  memorable  event  the  prophet  Hosea 
had  respect  when  he  spake  of  the  future  restoration  of  the  Church, 
and  said  :  "  Therefore,  behold,  I  will  allure  her,  and  bring  her  into 
the  wilderness  and  speak  comfortably  to  her.  And  I  will  give  her 
her  vineyards  from  thence,  and  the  valley  of  Achor  for  a  door  of 
hope."  (ii.  14, 15.)  It  is  not  said,  I  will  give  them  as  of  individuals, 
but  I  will  give  her  as  of  the  Church  collectively.  The  typical  Achor 
was,  in  that  day,  made  a  door  of  hope  to  the  congregation  of  Israel ; 
for  as  soon  as  Achan,  with  the  pledges  of  his  wickedness,  was  con- 
sumed in  the  valley,  their  drooping  hope  was  revived  ;  and,  whereas 
they  had  been  smitten  before  their  enemies,  they  immediately  after 
went  up  and  prospered,  and  took  the  inheritance  which  answered 
to  the  heavenly  Canaan.  So  shall  the  Church  of  Christ  triumph  in 
glory  when  all  the  Achans,  with  all  the  accursed  things,  are  purged 
out ;  as  it  is  written  :  "  The  Son  of  man  shall  send  forth  his  angels, 
[or  ministers,]  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things 
that  offend,  and  them  that  do  iniquity ;    and  shall  cast  them  into 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  211 

a  furnace  of  fire ;  there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 
Then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of 
theirFather.  Who  hath  ears  to  hear, let  him  hear."  (Matt.  xiii.  41- 
43.)  This  view  of  the  case  of  Achan  does  not  contradict  his  being 
an  illustration  of  the  practice  of  confessing  sins  under  the  Gospel,  as 
it  confirms  the  necessity  of  universal  confession.  And  it  shows  that 
in  all  cases,  unpardonable  as  well  as  pardonable,  confession  is  not 
made  immediately  to  God,  but  through  his  witnesses. 

The  Israelites  might  seek  God  upon  the  mountains  and  hills,  or  in 
any  place  or  manner,  besides  the  place  and  order  appointed  by  him- 
self, and  confess  and  make  sacrifices,  but  there  was  none  to  hear  or 
regard.  If,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  some  might  have  transient 
visions  of  God  in  those  places,  there  was  no  forgiveness  or  atone- 
ment. Not  even  the  name  of  God  was  found  in  that  work,  except 
in  the  place  where  he  had  the  ark  of  his  covenant,  his  mercy-seat, 
his  altar,  his  holy  fire,  and  his  priesthood.  And  even  in  that  place 
none  could  be  accepted,  either  in  their  offerings  or  confessions,  ex- 
cept in  the  appointed  order :  all  must  be  done  through  the  priest- 
hood ;  and  that  was  offering  and  confessing  to  God  according  to  his 
own  appointment ;  and  so  they  esteemed  it.  Accordingly,  the  priest 
was  not  only  the  mouth  of  God  to  the  people,  but  the  ear  of  God  also  ; 
a  mediator  between  God  and  man.  And  every  man  was  accepted  of 
God  in  being  accepted  of  the  priest ;  for  the  priest  made  the  atone- 
ment ;  the  reconciliation  was  effected  between  the  offender  and  the 
priest,  God's  minister,  who  covered  the  sin  that  it  might  be  done 
away ;  and  it  was  forgiven.  But  whoever  spoke  or  rebelled  against 
the  priest,  or  any  of  God's  ministers,  rebelled  against  God ;  as  it  is 
written  :  "  And  the  whole  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  mur- 
mured against  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the  wilderness ;  and  Moses  said. 
The  Lord  hath  heard  your  murmurings  which  ye  murmur  against 
him:  and  what  are  we  ?  your  murmurings  are  not  against  us,  but 
against  the  Lord."     (Ex.  xvi.  2,  8.) 

But  when  the  Israelites  transgressed  the  law  and  covenant  of  God, 
and  were  given  to  captivity  ;  when  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  where 
he  had  placed  his  name  and  covenanted  to  dwell  between  the  cheru- 
bim, was  destroyed ;  his  altar  thrown  down,  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
and  the  mercy-seat  removed ;  the  holy  fire  extinguished,  and  the 
priesthood  dispersed ;  in  these  circumstances  there  could  be  no  ac- 
ceptable offering  according  to  the  law.  Yet  God  did  not  wholly  cast 
off  his  people,  but  noticed, for  good,  all  who  came  as  near  the  mark  as 
was  within  their  reach,  while  the  true  order  was  impracticable.  In 
this  state  of  things  the  prophet  Daniel  kneeled  down  and  prayed  three 
times  a  day,  with  his  face  towards  Jerusalem,  as  he  could  not  go  to 
the  spot.  By  this  he  showed  his  regard  to  the  true  order  ;  and  the 
more  so,  as  his  observing  it  was  directed  against  his  own  life  by  the 
decree  of  the  king  of  Babylon.  Had  it  been  according  to  true  order 
to  seek  God  and  find  him  any  where,  Daniel  might  have  turned  his 
face  another  way  as  well  as  towards  Jerusalem.  But  that  was  not 
Daniel's  faith ;  nor  was  it  the  faith  of  any  except  those  who  chose  to 
run  their  own  way,  and  go  a  whoring  after  their  own  idols,  on  the 
mountains  and  hills,  and  under  every  green  tree;  which  the  law  of 
God  solemnly  forbade.      (Dan.  vi.  10,  &c.) 


212  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

While  in  Babylon  also,  Daniel  made  a  general  and  serious  confes- 
sion of  tlie  sins  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  and  it  is  a  reasonable  con- 
clusion, that  he  then  also  turned  his  face  to  Jerusalem,  in  obedience 
to  the  established  order  of  God's  worship  :  according  to  the  words  of 
Solomon  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple  : — "  If  they  shall  bethink 
themselves  in  the  land  whither  they  were  carried  captives,  and  re- 
pent, and  make  supplication  to  thee  in  the  land  of  them  that  carried 
them  captives,  saying,  We  have  sinned,  and  done  perversely,  we 
have  committed  wickedness  ;  and  so  return  to  thee  with  all  their 
heart,  and  with  all  their  soul,  in  the  land  of  their  enemies  who  led 
them  away  captive,  and  pray  unto  thee  toward  their  land,  which 
thou  gavest  unto  their  fathers,  the  city  which  thou  hast  chosen, 
and  the  house  which  I  have  built  for  thy  name  :  Then  hear  thou 
their  prayer  and  their  supplication  in  heaven  thy  dwelling-place,  and 
maintain  their  cause,  and  forgive  thy  people."  (1  Kings  viii.  47,  &c.) 
Thus  their  prayers  and  their  confessions  were  all  to  be  made  towards 
Jerusalem  and  towards  that  house  where  God  had  placed  his  name, 
in  those  times  when  they  could  not  come  before  the  altar  and  the 
priest  in  the  correct  order  of  God's  appointment.  But  when  they 
were  released  from  captivity,  and  the  temple,  the  altar  and  the  priest- 
hood became  accessible,  they  could  no  longer  be  accepted  unless  they 
observed  the  prescribed  order,  as  in  the  case  of  those  who  had  taken 
strange  wives  as  already  shown. 

My  reason  for  dwelling  so  much  on  the  confession  of  sins  among 
the  Jews  and  Israelites  is  to  show  that  there  never  was  any  confession 
of  sins  from  the  beginning,  which  was  acceptable  to  God,  unless  in  the 
appointed  order  in  the  presence  of  his  witnesses,  except  when  the 
thing  was  impossible  ;  and  that  in  that  case,  it  was  only  acceptable 
for  the  time  being  in  coming  as  near  to  the  mark  as  it  was  practicable 
to  come  ;  and  also  that  as  the  law  was  an  appointed  pattern  or  shad- 
ow of  the  Gospel,  and  was  so  considered  by  the  inspired  apostles,  the 
confession  of  sins  under  the  law,  in  a  perpetual  order,  is  a  confirmed 
reason  that  we  may  look  for  it  in  the  Gospel ;  but  especially  when 
ire  find,  not  only  John  the  forerunner  of  Christ,  but  Christians  them- 
selves confirming  and  practising  it.  It  may  appear  strange  to  some, 
but  not  the  less  true,  if  it  be  found,  on  a  strict  examination,  that  no 
people  ever  pretended  to  confess  their  sins  with  any  hope  of  pardon 
and  acceptance,  either  under  the  law  or  the  Gospel,  without  bringing 
them  to  the  witnesses  of  God,  until  after  the  falling  away,  spoken  of 
by  the  Apostle,  took  place,  and  the  reign  of  the  beast  commenced, 
and  the  doctrines  and  works  of  Antichrist  were  promulgated  and 
adopted. 

We  have  now  gone  through  the  dispensation  of  the  law  and  the 
prophets,  which  continued  until  John,  to  whom  was  given  a  new  and 
farther  revelation  from  God,  which  was  preparatory  to  the  Gospel 
dispensation.  "  The  law  and  the  prophets,"  said  Jesus,  "  were  until 
John  ;  since  that  time  the  kingdom  of  God  is  preached."  (Luke  xvi. 
16.)  But  though  the  old  dispensation  then  began  to  come  to  its  end, 
the  article  of  confessing  sins  was  not  disannulled,  but  continued  with 
an  increase  of  light  and  energy  ;  so  that  they  who  had  been  long  ac- 
quainted with  the  law  and  its  order,  and,  no  doubt,  had  confessed  ac- 
cording to  that  order,  came  and  confessed  to  John,.     As  it  is  written  : 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  213 

*'  John  did  baptize  in  the  wilderness  and  preach  the  baptism  of  re- 
pentance for  the  remission  of  sins.  And  there  went  out  unto  him  all 
the  land  of  Judea,  and  they  of  Jerusalem,  and  were  baptized  of  him 
in  the  river  of  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins."  (Mark  i.  4,  5.)  From 
these  things  it  appears  that  the  matter  of  confessing  sins  was  not  a 
ceremony,  although  performed  among  the  ceremonial  observances, 
but  a  direct  act  of  duty  and  worship  to  be  continued  throughout  the 
work  of  salvation,  as  prayer,  praise  and  other  duties  of  perpetual  ob- 
ligation. The  Hebrew  term  [riTin]  which  signifies  co?i/es.sion,  signifies 
also  thanksgiving,  importing  the  laying  open  to  God  of  the  blessings 
received  as  well  as  the  sins  committed. 

Now  the  people  had  sinned,  not  against  John,  but  against  God  ; 
the  confession,  therefore,  was  not  due  to  John,  but  to  God.  But  as 
John  was  the  medium  of  the  revelation  of  God  to  them  for  the  work 
to  which  they  were  called,  they  came  and  confessed  to  God  in  his 
presence  and  hearing,  or  to  God  in  him.  Thus  God  continued  to 
show  his  regard  to  order,  as  a  God  of  order  and  not  of  confusion  : 
he  still  had  a  witness ;  and  as  the  ministry  of  John  was  preparatory 
and  introductory  to  that  of  Christ  who  was  one,  John  was  for  a  time 
the  only  ministering  witness  :  all  the  faithful  went  to  him.  And  in 
acknowledging  that  order  of  God  and  that  minister  of  order,  they 
acknowledged  God  in  the  only  acceptable  manner  then  extant,  and 
confessed  their  sins  to  him  in  the  only  acceptable  method.  Probably 
the  most  rebellious  man  would  be  willing  to  acknowledge  God  in 
some  manner  ;  he  might  acknowledge  his  name  and  authority  at  a 
distance  ;  but  the  disorderly  nature  of  man  is  opposed  to  order. 
Korah,  Dathan,  Abiram  and  their  company,  rebelled  against  the  ap- 
pointment and  order  of  God  in  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  at  the  same 
time  professed  to  be  God's  people — all  holy.  The  pharisees  also, 
who  rejected  John's  baptism  and  the  confession  of  sins  accompanying 
it,  and  thereby  rejected  the  counsel  of  God  and  refused  to  justify 
God ;  and  who  also  said  of  Jesus  Christ,  "  Who  is  this  that  speaketh 
blasphemies  }  who  can  forgive  sins  but  God  only  .?"  (Luke  v.  21,  and 
vii.  29,  30.)  nevertheless  made  a  high  profession  of  being  God's 
peculiar  people,  having  faith  in  the  coming  of  both  Elias  and  Christ 
that  were  to  come.  Many  also  in  these  days,  who  have  cast  ofi"  almost 
every  trace  of  the  true  order  of  God  in  the  Gospel,  still  profess  to  be 
Christians. 

He  who  confesses  his  sins  in  secret  is  not  certainly  conscious  that 
any  being  hears  or  regards  him,  or  if  he  believes  he  is  heard,  he  has 
no  idea,  that  any  thing  more  is  known  after  his  confession  than  be- 
fore. He  may  say  it  is  his  choice  to  confess  to  God  whom  he  fears 
and  regards  more  than  man.  But  that  he  has  more  fear  toward  a 
man  like  himself  than  towards  God  is  evident  ;  because  when  he  is 
confessing  his  sins  to  God  in  secret  without  dread,  were  he  conscious 
that  a  man  of  like  passions  with  himself,  especially  a  hater  of  sin, 
were  in  hearing,  he  would  be  alarmed,  or  filled  with  consternation. 
And  why  so  ;  only  because  the  fear  of  man  is  deeper  in  his  heart 
than  the  fear  of  God  out  of  man  ?  It  is  infinitely  more  mortifying 
for  a  man  to  confess  his  sins  in  faith  and  honesty,  in  the  hearing  and 
presence  of  God's  witnesses,  than  to  confess  to  God,  as  they  say,  ab- 
stractedly from  men  ;  which  conclusively  proves  that  to  confess  to 


214  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

God  in  men,  is  the  deepest  work,  and  the  nearest  possible  approach 
to  God.  It  fills  up  what  is  written  :  "  He  that  covereth  his  sins  shall 
not  prosper  :  but  whoso  confesseth  and  forsaketh  them  shall  have 
mercy."  "  For  every  one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light,  neither 
Cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved,"  [discover- 
ed, or  convicted,  in  the  Greek,  that  is,  lest  he  should  be  convicted  of 
them,  they  being  laid  open  in  their  true  colours  to  his  conscience,] 
"  There  is  nothing  covered  that  shall  not  be  revealed  ;  neither  hid 
that  shall  not  be  known."  But  to  confess  secretly  brings  nothing  to 
light ;  it  makes  nothing  known.  These  hate  the  light,  and  come  not 
to  the  light ;  they  seek  deep  to  hide  counsel  from  the  Lord  ;  for  no 
man  will  imagine  he  can  hide  from  God  absolutely,  or  attempt  to  do 
it ;  but  many  seek  with  profound  subtlety  to  hide  from  him  in  his  wit- 
nesses. And,  Woe  to  them,  saith  the  Lord.  But  he  that  confesses  to 
God  in  the  true  and  established  order,  knows  and  sensibly  feels,  that 
he  is  heard  and  understood ;  that  what  he  hath  done  is  made  known. 
This  is  coming  to  the  light  and  uncovering  ;  it  is  coming  to  truth  and 
honesty  ;  it  is  contrary  to  the  spirit,  or  principle,  which  inclines  men 
to  commit  sin  ;  for  that  spirit  can  never  lead  a  man  to  confess  and  ex- 
pose his  sins  in  so  open  a  method,  in  so  near  an  approach  to  God,  until 
Satan  can  be  divided  against  Satan.  By  thus  confessing  in  the  light, 
the  spirit  of  sin  and  of  darkness  which  rules  in  the  corrupt  and  deceit- 
ful heart,  is  sensibly  detected  and  exposed  ;  this  is  coming  to  a  light 
and  a  judgment  of  which  the  sinner  is  sensible  ;  and  this  shows  the 
necessity  and  propriety  of  God's  having  a  witness.  This  is  coming  to 
the  living  God,  on  his  living  throne  and  in  his  living  temple.  As  it  is 
written  :  "  Ye  are  the  temple  of  the  living  God,"  and  again:  "  The 
place  of  my  throne  ;  and  the  place  of  the  soles  of  my  feet ;  where  I  will 
dwell  in  the  midst  of  the  children  of  Israel  for  ever."  And  again  : 
"  To  whom  coming  as  unto  a  living  stone  disallowed  indeed  of  men, 
but  chosen  of  God,  and  precious,  ye  also,  as  living  stones,  are  biiilt  up 
a  spiritual  house,  an  holy  priesthood  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices  [not 
legal  types,  but  sacrifices  in  the  spirit,  or  of  a  spiritual  nature,]  ac- 
ceptable to  God  by  Jesus  Christ."  (Ezek.  xliii.  7  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  4,  5.) 
Now  we  have  already  shown  that  the  priesthood  were  God's  ministers 
to  the  people,  and  the  people's  ministers  to  God  ;  that  the  people 
presented  to  the  priesthood  what  they  offered  to  God,  and  confessed  to 
God  in  them,  or  to  them  in  God's  stead,  the  sins  which  they  had  com- 
mitted against  him.  Thus  believers  in  Christ  are  (not  now  a  legal  or 
ceremonial,  but)  a  holy  priesthood.  Not  that  each  one  of  them  is  an 
appointed  ministering  priest ;  but  the  true  priests  of  God  are  all 
among  them,  Jesus  Christ  being  the  high  priest :  and  separately  from 
them,  there  is  no  access  to  God  for  salvation. 


THE    CONFESS[ON    OF    SINS.  215 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED,  AS  IT  RESPECTS  THE  WORK  OF  ,  GOD  IN 

THE  GOSPEL. 

That  the  confession  of  sin  is  necessary,  and  so  remains,  under  the 
dispensation  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  evident,  from  the  consideration,  that 
the  whole  order  of  the  law  was  typical  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  bap- 
tism of  John  figurative  of  that  of  Christ,  but  also  by  the  express  teach- 
ings of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is 
faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  un- 
righteousness."  (1  Jno.  i.  9.) 

After  the  introduction  of  the  Gospel,  God  continued  to  show  him- 
self a  God  of  order ;  and  continued,  or  renewed,  the  direct  line  of 
order  for  his  people.  For  although  the  priesthood  was  transposed 
from  Aaron  to  Melchisedec,  that  is,  to  Christ,  and  the  law  transposed 
also,  neither  the  law  nor  the  order  thereof  was  lost.  (See  page  69.) 
God  had  prepared  a  Mediator,  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest,  in 
things  pertaining  to  God,  a  shepherd  of  the  sheep  ;  the  great  anti- 
type of  all  that  had  been  before  exhibited,  the  beginning  of  the  new 
and  spiritual  building  of  God,  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead.  None, 
therefore,  could  approach  God,  or  confess  their  sins  to  him,  or  receive 
forgiveness,  except  through  that  Mediator  :  no  attempts  of  the  kind, 
in  any  line  or  way,  detached  from  him  as  the  medium  could  succeed. 
Accordingly  he  said,  "  I  am  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life  ;  no  man 
Cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  me."  (Jno.  xiv.  6.)  But  as  the  ofl&ce  of 
Christ  was  represented  by  that  of  the  Levitical  high  priest,  we  are  not 
to  look  for  much  confession  of  sins  made  immediately  to  him  ;  for 
there  was  another  medium,  subject  to  him,  and  through  which  to  ap- 
proach him.  "  Now,  when  these  things  were  thus  ordained,  the 
priests  went  always  into  the  first  tabernacle,  accomplishing  the  ser- 
vice :  but  into  the  second  went  the  high  priest  alone,  once  every  year." 
(Heb.  ix.  6,  7.)  It  was  not  the  manner  under  the  law,  for  the  people 
to  come  with  their  sacrifices  immediately  to  the  high  priest  who  went 
alone  once  a  year  into  the  most  holy  place,  bu^t  to  the  second  order  of 
priests  who  went  always  into  the  first  tabernacle,  accomplishing  the 
service  for  the  people.  This  is  made  evident  by  the  commandments 
which  were  given  directly  after  the  tabernacle  was  reared  up  in  the 
wilderness.  Aaron's  sons,  the  subordinate  priests  were  they  who  re- 
ceived the  offerings  at  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  of  course  heard 
their  confessions,  as  before  shown.  And  the  same  order  obtains  with 
Christ  and  his  ministers.  The  priests  of  Levi  were  not  ordained  and 
qualified  as  priests  in  their  order,  until  the  tabernacle  was  reared ;  so 
neither  were  the  Gospel  ministers  until  the  Gospel  was  given  ;  as  said 
Jesus  ;  "  Behold,  I  send  the  promise  of  my  Father  upon  you :  but 
tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  until  ye  be  indued  with  power  from 
on  high."   (Luke  xxiv.  49.) 

The  rearing  up  of  the  Jewish  tabernacle  consisted  in  bringing  the. 
different  parts  together, .on  an  appointed  day,  some  time  after  they 


216  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

had  been  formed,  and  joining  them  one  to  another,  so  as  to  make 
one  tabernacle.  So  the  rearing  of  the  spiritual  tabernacle  also  con- 
sisted in  uniting  the  parts,  in  that  day  when  God,  and  Christ,  and  the 
Church,  became  united  in  one  according  to  the  words  of  Christ :  "  In 
that  day  ye  shall  know,  that  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I 
in  you."  "  For  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  (Jno.  xiv.  20  ;  Mat.  xviii. 
20.)  This  took  place  after  Christ  ascended  to  the  right  hand  of 
power  and  his  disciples  were  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  cement  of 
love  and  union,  by  whose  influence  they  became  of  one  heart  and  one 
soul.  It  was  then  Christ  Jesus  properly  became  a  high  priest  of  that 
living  tabernacle  ;  as  saitb  the  Apostle  :  "  We  have  such  an  high  priest 
who  is  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  majesty  in  the  hea- 
vens ;  a  minister  of  the  sanctuary  and  of  the  true  tabernacle,  which  the 
Lord  pitched,  and  not  man.  For  every  high  priest  is  ordained  to 
offer  gifts  and  sacrifices  :  wherefore  it  is  of  necessity  that  this  man  have 
somewhat  to  offer.  For  if  he  were  on  earth  he  should  not  be  a  priest, 
seeing  that  there  are  priests  that  offer  gifts  according  to  the  law ;  who 
serve  unto  the  example  of  heavenly  things.  But  now  hath  he  obtained 
a  more  excellent  ministry,"  or  priesthood.  (Heb.  viii.  1-6.)  By 
this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  evident,  that  while  Christ  Jesus  was  on 
earth,  he  was  not  properly  qualified  to  execute  his  office,  as  it  respected 
the  offerings  of  the  people  to  be  made  through  him,  any  more  than  Aaron 
was  before  the  tabernacle  was  reared  and  he  anointed.  As  Aaron  then 
became  a  medium  for  others  to  make  their  offering  through  him,  so 
did  Jesus  Christ :  the  one  being  the  type  and  the  other  the  antitype. 

Abundance  was  spoken  concerning  the  office  and  duty  of  Aaron,  and 
the  offerings  of  the  people,  through  them,  long  before  the  tabernacle 
was  set  up.  A  great  part  of  the  book  of  Exodus  is  taken  up  in  treating 
on  these  subjects ;  but  the  last  chapter  gives  the  first  account  of  the 
actual  setting  up  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  eighth  of  Leviticus  of  Aaron's 
being  actually  anointed.  And  then  his  sons  were  also  consecrated  with 
him  ;  and  at  the  same  time  also,  the  tabernacle  with  all  its  utensils,  and 
the  altar  with  all  belonging  to  it,  were  anointed,  sanctified  and  prepared 
for  the  use  long  before  prescribed.  When  this  was  done,  Aaron  en- 
tering through  the  vail  into  the  most  holy  place  of  the  tabernacle, 
found  immediate  access  to  God,  and  his  throne,  or  mercy-seat,  there 
placed  ;  and  the  priests,  standing  in  the  first  apartment  of  the  taberna- 
cle, and  fulfilling  their  part  of  the  service,  in  union  with  the  high  priest, 
found  their  access  to  the  mercy-seat  through  him,  in  their  gifts  and  of- 
ferings ;  and  the  congregation,  meeting  the  priests,  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle,  with  their  gifts,  found  access  to  God  in  his  mercy-seat, 
through  the  whole  priesthood.  And  thus  they  all  found  access  to  God, 
and  were  accepted,  and  received  blessings  ;  but  each  in  his  own  order. 
In  these  things  the  priests  of  Levi  served  to  the  example  and  shadow  of 
heavenhj  things  ;  and  answerable  to  that  example,  or  pattern,  were  the 
Gospel  order  and  ministry  established.  Therefore  as  the  confession  of 
sins  and  offering  for  sins  went  together,  under  the  law  as  before  shown, 
and  as  they  were  not  presented  immediately  to  the  high  priest,  but  to  the 
subordinate  priests,  so  after  the  Gospel  day  and  work  took  place  the 
confession  of  sins  was  not  inunediately  to  Christ  Jesus,  but  to  his  min- 
isters, who  are  the  Gospel  or  Christian  priests,  and  his  Church,  or 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  217 

people,  are  the  temple,  or  house,  where  the  offerings  are  made  to  God 
in  order  as  it  is  written  ;  "  To  whom  coming  as  to  a  [^wvra]  living  stone, 
disallowed  indeed  of  men,  but  chosen  of  God  and  precious  ;  ye  also  as 
[^wvTSffJ  living  stones,  are  built  up,  a  spiritual  house  ;  an  holy  priest- 
hood, to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus 
Christ ;"  "  But  ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  that  ye 
should  show  forth  the  praises  of  him  who  hath  called  you."  (1.  Pet. 
ii.  4,  5,  9.)  These  words  embrace  the  whole  Jewish  order,  with  man- 
ifest application  to  the  Christian  Church  and  ministry.  But  this  subject 
will  be  farther  considered  hereafter. 

I  am  aware  of  the  objections  of  some,  against  the  appointed  order  of 
confessing  sins,  on  account  of  the  evil  conduct  or  heretical  name  of  a 
certain  people,  who  have  maintained  it  the  nearest  of  any,  in  the  out- 
ward form,  and  say  they  have  preserved  it  down  from  the  apostles. 
But  the  abuse  of  the  order  of  God  is  no  exception  against  the  order 
itself.  If  any  abuse  it,  they  are  criminal  ;  but  that  is  no  cause  why 
others  should  neglect  it.  No  truth  is  to  be  neglected  or  condemned  be- 
cause a  wicked  people  profess  it. 

Now  as  the  ministering  priest  of  the  law  offered  up  their  own  sac- 
rifices and  those  of  the  people  through  the  high  priest,  so  the  priests, 
or  ministers,  of  the  Gospel,  offered  up  their  own  sacrifices  and  those  of 
the  people  through  Christ,  the  great  high  priest  of  the  Gospel.  To  this 
these  words  agree  and  are  justly  applicable  :  Ye  also  as  living  stones 
are  built  up  a  spiritual  house,  an  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sac- 
rifices acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  They  were  not  to  offer 
up  material  sacrifices,  as  the  Jewish  priests,  but  those  which  pertained 
to  the  spirit — those  which  were  cMculated  to  purge  the  conscience  from 
dead  works,  and  make  it  fit  to  serve  the  living  God.  And  as  the  peo- 
ple under  the  law  could  not  make  an  acceptable  offering  to  God, 
except  in  the  appointed  place,  the  temple,  or  house  of  God,  and  through 
the  priesthood,  so  neither  can  any  in  the  Gospel  make  an  acceptable 
offering  to  God  to  purge  the  conscience  from  dead  works,  or  offer  them- 
selves up  a  perfectly  acceptable  sacrifice  in  the  spirit,  unless  in  this 
spiritual  house,  built  up  of  living  stones,  on  Christ  the  living  stone. 
Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  to  them;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye 
retain,  they  are  retained.  And  as  Aaron  bore  the  sins  of  the  people,  even 
of  their  holy  things,  or  things  devoted  to  God  in  sacrifice,  (not  the  pun- 
ishment or  reward  of  sins,  for  there  was  no  punishment  or  reward  of 
iniquity  laid  on  Aaron,  in  the  performance  of  his  duty  in  the  behalf 
of  the  people,)  and  these  sins  were  first  borne  from  the  people  by  the  sub- 
ordinate priests,  to  whom  the  confessions  were  made  ;  so  in  the  Gos- 
pel, Jesus  the  high  priest  bears  the  sins  of  those  things,  that  is,  per- 
sons who  devote  themselves  to  God,  making  covenant  with  him  by 
sacrifice,  and  sins  are  first  removed  from  the  people  by  the  minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel,  to  whom  confession  is  made,  while  they  minister 
in  the  name  of  Christ  and  in  his  behalf.  Thus,  I  say,  Christ  and 
his  people  bear  the  sins  of  those  who  make  covenant  with  God  by 
sacrifice,  or  who  confess  and  forsake  their  sins  according  to  the 
true  order  of  God  for  that  purpose.  Not  the  punishment  of  sins,  or 
reward  of  iniquity.  No  punishment  was  inflicted  on  Christ  Jesus  in 
the  execution  of  his  ofl&ce  in  the  behalf  of  the  people  ;  neither^ 
there  on  his  ministers,  except  that  which  is  inflicted  by  the  enemy, 


218  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

who  waged  war  against  Christ  and  his  people  for  doing  their  duty. 
But  the  sins  of  those  who  faithfully  make  their  offerings  to  God  are 
home  by  Christ,  who  is  in  the  people,  and  by  his  people  in  charity  to 
those  who  offer  them,  and  for  the  destruction  of  the  sins,  to  bury 
them  out  of  sight.  Chanty  covereih  the  multitude  of  sins.  And 
this  is  the  substance  of  the  atonement  made  by  the  priests  of  Levi  un- 
der the  law.  And  as  Jesus  Christ  bore  the  sins  of  many  ;  as  he  took 
our  infirmities  and  carried  our  sorrows ;  so  it  is  written  concerning 
Christians  :  "  Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,"  [nvi  TrapaTi'- 
TWfi-ari,  any  offence  ;  the  very  word  which  is  used  by  the  same  apostle 
to  express  our  ojfences  for  which  Christ  was  delivered.  Rom.  iv.  25.] 
"  ye  that  are  spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  ; 
considering  thyself  lest  thou  also  be  tempted.  Bear  ye  one  another's 
burdens,  and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ."  "  Confess  your  faults 
one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for  another,  that  ye  may  be  healed. 
Brethren,  if  any  one  of  you  do  err  from  the  truth  and  one  convert 
him  ;  let  him  know,  that  he  who  converteth  the  sinner  from  the 
error  of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall  cover  a 
multitude  of  si«s."  (Gal.  vi.  1,  2;  Jas.  v.  16,  19,  20.)  And  as 
quoted  above  :  "  Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  to 
them."  An  objection  has  been  made  against  the  use  of  the  saying  of 
James,  "  Confess  your  faults  one  to  another,"  in  proving  the  true 
order  of  confession ;  and  the  same  exception  may  be  taken  at  the 
above  quotation  from  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians :  but  it  will  be  ob- 
viated in  a  convenient  place. 

As  the  priesthood,  under  the  law  of  Moses,  included  both  the  high 
priest  and  the  second  order,  so  in  tne  Gospel  of  Christ,  the  Church, 
or  body  of  Christ,  is  composed  of  the  head  and  the  members,  and 
there  is  no  true  church,  or  body,  without  both.  But,  as  under  the 
law,  when  Aaron  was  anointed,  he  was  the  priest,  and  the  only 
anointed  one  on  earth,  though  incapable  of  serving  at  the  altar,  until 
he  had  offered  a  sacrifice,  and  then  his  sons  were  anointed  with  the 
same  oil ;  and  yet  the  service  could  not  be  all  performed  in  order,  in 
behalf  of  the  people,  until  the  high  priest  went  into  the  Most  Holy 
place  and  returned.  So  when  Jesus  was  anointed  with  the  Spirit,  he 
alone  was  the  only  anointed  priest  of  the  Gospel ;  the  only  true  habi- 
tation of  God  on  earth,  the  true  tabernacle,  which  the  Lord  pitched 
and  not  man,  until  he  had  made  his  sacrifice,  and  then  his  disciples 
were  anointed  with  the  same  Spirit  and  became  one  with  him  ;  for 
he  breathed  on  them,  and  said.  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  How- 
beit  they  were  not  fully  commissioned  nor  qualified  to  minister  the 
Gospel  to  the  people,  until  he  had  ascended  to  the  Father  and  re- 
turned in  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  They 
were  then  fully  empowered,  according  to  the  work  of  that  day,  to 
preach  repentance  and  the  remission  of  sins  in  his  name,  and  to  do  all 
that  work  in  the  spiritual  house,  which  was  set  forth  in  a  shadow,  by 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle.  They- were  then  one  with  Christ  and 
with  the  Father,  according  to  the  work  of  that  day ;  and  these  in 
their  proper  order  and  power  are  the  true  body  of  Christ,  and  the 
|me  Christ,  having  received  the  same  anointing  of  the  Father,  as 
Jesus  himself,  while  he  stood  alone,  and  of  the  people  there  was  none 
with  him.     Accordingly,  it  is  written,  "  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  219 

seen  the  Father.  And  again  :  ^  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I 
am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you."  (Jno.  xiv.  9,  20.) 
And  again  ;  "  But  y©  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  and  ye 
know  all  things — But  the  anointing  which  ye  have  received  of  him 
abideth  in  you  ;  and  ye  need  not  that  any  man  teach  you:  but  as  the 
same  anointing  teacheth  you  of  all  things,  and  is  truth,  and  is  no 
lie."     Further, 

To  prove  that  the  Church  is  one  with  Christ,  they  being  one  body 
and  constituting  the  true  seed  and  true  Christ,  to  whom  the  promise 
was  made,  the  words  of  the  apostle  Paul  may  be  introduced  :  "  Now 
to  Abraham  and  his  seed  were  the  promises  made.  He  saith  not, 
And  to  seeds,  as  of  many  :  but  as  of  one.  And  to  thy  seed,  which 
is  Christ."  (Gal.  iii.  16.)  Now,  all  the  faithful  are  the  seed;  not 
seeds,  for  they  are  one,  as  it  is  again  written:  "  The  children  of  the 
promise  are  counted  for  the  seed."  (Rom.  ix.  8.)  And,  as  it  were, 
to  put  the  question  beyond  a  doubt,  the  following  words  are  to  the 
point :  "  For  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members,  and  all 
the  members  of  that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body  :  so  also 
is  Christ.  For  by  one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one  body : 
whether  Jews  or  Greeks,  bond  or  free  ;  and  have  been  all  made  to 
drink  into  one  Spirit.  For  the  body  is  not  one  member  but  many." 
(1  Cor.  xii.  12-14.  See  the  chapter  throughout.  See  also  B.  W. 
Stone's  Reply  to  Dr.  J.  P.  Campbell,  Let.  4.  p.  19.)  The  Apos- 
tle calls  the  Church,  Christ,  by  name.  So,  then,  wherever  the  true 
Church  of  Christ  is,  there  is  the  true  Christ  of  God,  the  light  of  the 
world,  the  light  of  men,  and  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  as  said  Jesus  to 
his  disciples,  "  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;"  "  Ye  are  the  light  of 
the  world."  (Matt.  v.  13,  14.)  And  wherever  a  true  Church  of 
Christ  is  found,  having  regained  the  communion  and  unity  of  the 
Spirit,  after  the  falling  away  by  Antichrist,  there  is  Christ  in  his  se- 
cond appearing  without  sin  to  salvation.  Such  was  the  light  into 
which  honest  believers  brought  their  deeds,  by  confessing  them,  in 
the  apostolic  dispensation,  according  to  the  work  of  that  day :  and 
such  is  the  light  to  which  all  souls,  who  esteem  Christ  and  his  salva- 
tion above  all  inferior  enjoyments,  bring  their  deeds  and  expose  them 
in  the  judgment,  in  his  second  appearing  for  a  last  and  j&nishing  work 
of  salvation. 

As  it  was  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  that  constituted  Jesus 
the  Anointed,  or  the  Christ,  which  is  the  same  ;  so,  the  Church  be- 
ing anointed  with  the  same,  they  were  constituted  the  Anointed,  the 
Christ.  And  the  same  authority,  power,  and  office,  ascribed  to 
and  possessed  by  Jesus,  the  Christ,  as  such  was  also  ascribable  to 
and  possessed  by  the  Church,  as  will  be  seen  by  and  by.  But  to  Je- 
sus were  given  other  names  or  titles  besides  Christ,  or  in  addition  to 
that,  as,  "  The  mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father,"  which  are  not 
ascribable  to  the  Church.  Nor  is  it  to  be  understood  that  any  one 
member  of  the  Church  received  that  anointing  in  its  fullness  which 
constituted  Jesus  the  Christ,  but  the  Church  collectively.  "The 
glory  which  thou  gavest  me,  I  have  given  them ;  that  they  may  be 
one  even  as  we  are  one  ;  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me."  (Jno.  xvii.  22, 
23.)  "  To  one  is  given  by  the  Spirit,  the  word  of  wisdom  ;  to  another, 
the  word  of  knowledge  by  the  same  Spirit ;  to  another,  faith  by  the 


220  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

same  Spirit ;  to  another, tlie  working l>f  miracles ;  to  another,  prophecy ; 
to  another,  discerning  of  spirits  ;  to  another,  divers  kinds  of  tongues ; 
to  another,  the  interpretation  of  tongues :  but  all  these  worketh  that 
one  and  the  self-same  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man  severally  as  he 
will.  For  as  the  body  is  one  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the 
members  of  that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body,"  "For  we 
are  members  of  his  body,  of  his  flesh,  and  of  his  bones."  "  Know  ye 
not  that  your  bodies  are  the  members  of  Christ .?"  "  Touch  not  mine 
anointed,  [Tl'tyD,  my  christs,]  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm." 

Thus  the  true  Church  of  Christ  is  very  Christ,  and  possesses  all  the 
power  of  Christ  as  a  Saviour  and  a  Judge.  First ;  Jesus  says,  (Jno. 
V.  22,)  "The  Father  judgeth  no  man  ;  but  hath  committed  all  judg- 
ment unto  the  Son."  And  then,  in  his  address  to  his  Father,  (Jno. 
xvii.  22^)  "The  glory  which  thou  gavest  me,  I  have  given  them." 
What  glory  then  was  it  which  his  Father  had  first  given  to  him,  and 
he  afterwards  gave  to  his  disciples,  but  that  which  included  the  power 
and  office  of  judgment }  What  else  did  he  mean  when  he  told  his 
disciples,  (Jno.  xx.  2.3,)  that  what  they  did  on  earth  with  respect  to 
binding  and  loosing,  remitting  and  retaining  sins,  was  done  in  heaven  .'' 
And  what  else  is  meant  by  the  following  language  i  "Do  ye  not 
know  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world  }  Know  ye  not  that  we 
shall  jiidge  angels.'"  (l  Cor.  vi.  2,  3.)  "And  I  saw  thrones,  and 
they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was  given  to  them."  (Rev.  xx.  4.) 
"Behold,  the  Lord  cometh  with  [or  in,  Greek]  ten  thousand  of  his 
saints  to  execute  judgment  upon  all."  (Jude  14,  15.)  "I  beheld, 
and  the  same  horn  made  war  with  the  saints,  and  prevailed  against 
them  ;  until  the  Ancient  of  days  came,  and  judgment  was  given  to 
the  saints."  (Dan.  vii.  21,  22.)  This  last  is  the  same  that  is  shown 
in  Revelations,  as  quoted  above  ;  "  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat 
upon  them,  and  judgment  was  given  to  them  ;"  which  shows  it  to  be 
the  final  judgment  which  is  there  intended,  and  not  any  thing  that 
took  place  in  the  Apostle's  time  ;  as  the  book  of  the  Revelations  was 
written  by  the  last  of  the  apostles  near  the  close  of  his  life.  And  if 
the  final  judgment  is  in  the  saints,  how  much  more  any  judgment 
prior  to  that  t 

An  objection  may  arise  against  the  idea  of  the  final  judgment  being 
in  the  saints,  because  it  is  thus  written  :  "When  the  Son  of  Man 
shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall 
he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory  :  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered 
all  nations  ;  and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shep- 
herd divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats  ;  and  he  shall  set  the  sheep 
on  his  right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  the  left."  But  this  is  not  to  be 
understood  literally,  any  more  than  the  righteous  and  wicked  are 
literally  sheep  and  goats.  Compare  the  above  text  with  the  follow- 
ing one  :  "Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  which  have  followed  me 
in  the  regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of 
his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel."  (Matt.  xix.  28.)  This  makes  it  evident  that  the 
apostles  have  part  in  the  final  judgment ;  and  it  is  evident  by  the 
same,  that  the  description  is  symbolical ;  for  the  apostles  are  there 
represented,  not  only  as  having  part  in  the  judgment,  but  as  having 
the  fii'St  and  principal  place  in  it,  instead  of  Jesus,  the  twelve  tribes 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  221 

of  Israel  being  given  to  them  to  judge,  leaving  only  the  Gentile  nation 
for  him  ;  or  rather  none,  as  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  seems  to  be  a 
phrase  designed  to  include  the  whole  number  of  the  saved.  Besides, 
Jesus  and  his  apostles  are  here  represented  as  occupying  thirteen 
separate  thrones,  and  all  these  distinct  from  the  Father's,  which 
would  make  the  fourteenth  ;  whereas  the  Father  and  Jesus  and  the 
saints  are  elsewhere  represented  as  all  sitting  in  one  throne.  "To 
him  that  overcometh,"  says  Jesus,  "will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in  my 
throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  down  with  my  Father  in 
his  throne."  (Rev.  iii.  21.)  If  Jesus  sits  with  his  Father  in  his 
throne  and  the  saints  sit  with  Jesus  in  his,  all  at  the  same  time,  then 
they  must  all  sit  in  one  throne,  which  would  contradict  the  other 
passage,  if  the  two  bear  a  literal  acceptation. 

Now  what  man  is  there  that  does  not  know  that  a  throne  is  the 
place  and  seat  of  judgment,  and  that  if  two  sit  together  in  one  throne 
they  both  sit  in  judgment  jointly  .''  To  say,  He  that  overcometh  shall 
sit  with  me  in  my  throne,  is  as  much  as  to  say.  He  that  overcometh 
shall  sit  with  me  in  judgment.  And  if  the  Father  and  Jesus  and  the 
saints  all  sit  in  one  throne  they  are  all  united  in  the  judgment.  And 
where  they  are  represented  as  sitting  in  different  thrones,  it  only 
means  the  different  degrees  of  power  and  authority  which  they  pos- 
sess, or  the  different  stations  and  grades  which  they  fill  in  the  one 
judgment.  The  saints  judge  nothing  of  themselves  but  Christ  in 
them  ;  and  Christ  judges  nothing  of  himself  but  the  Father  in  him. 
"I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me."  "I  can,"  said  Jesus,  "of  mine  own 
self  do  nothing:  as  I  hear  I  judge."  (Jno.  v.  30.)  And  to  his 
disciples,  "  My  Father  is  the  husbandman — I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the 
branches — without  me  ye  can  do  nothing."  (Jno.  xv.  1—5.)  "He 
that  receiveth  you,  receiveth  me,  and  he  that  receiveth  me,  receiveth 
him  that  sent  me."  (Mat.  x.  40,  and  ver.  20.)  "It  is  not  ye  that 
speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father  which  speaketh  in  you."  God 
the  Father  works  all  things  and  judges  all  things,  but  he  works  and 
judges  in  and  by  his  ministers,  of  whom  Jesus  Christ  is  first  and  Lord 
of  all.  The  root  bears  the  vine,  the  vine  the  branches,  and  the 
branches  the  fruit. 

It  may  be  asked,  if  there  is  no  judgment  but  in  the  saints,  then  by 
whom  are  the  saints  judged .?  With  the  same  propriety  it  may  be 
asked,  if  the  saints  preach  the  Gospel  and  minister  it  to  the  world, 
then  who  ministers  it  to  the  saints  ?  It  is  well  known  that  Jesus  chose 
and  prepared  certain  individuals  as  the  first  pillars  of  his  Church,  and 
that  to  them  he  ministered  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
after  his  ascension.  And  as  he  was  thus  their  minister  of  course  he 
was  their  judge.  But  the  Holy  Ghost  was  never  given  to  any  after- 
wards in  the  same  manner.  None  afterwards  could  receive  it  im- 
mediately from  heaven,  but  by  the  ministration  of  those  on  earth 
who  had  received  it  before.  But  this  gift  and  office  was  not  confined 
to  the  first  apostles  alone  ;  for  when  they  had  ministered  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  some,  these  again  could  minister  it  to  others.  And  the 
judgment  was  in  the  same  order,  in  proportion  to  the  work  of  that 
day. 

I  will  now  prove  what  I  have  said  of  the  order  of  the  ministration 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.     How  the  apostles  first  received  it  is  manifest,  as 


222  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

follows  :  "It  is  expedient  for  you  tlaat  I  go  away  :  for  if  I  go  not 
away,  the  Comforter  (the  Holy  Ghost)  will  not  come  tmto  you ;  but 
if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  unto  you."  Again,  after  he  rose  from 
the  dead:  "  And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them,  and 
saith  unto  them,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whosesoever  sins  ye 
remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them  ;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain, 
they  are  retained."  "And  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  fully 
come,  they  were  all  with  one  accord  in  one  place.  And  suddenly 
there  came  a  sound  from  heaven,  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it 
filled  all  the  house  where  they  were  sitting.  And  there  appeared 
unto  them  cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire,  and  it  sat  upon  each  of 
them."  (John  xvi.  7,  and  xx.  22  ;  Acts  ii.  1,  2,  3.)  Thus  the  apos- 
tles received  the  Holy  Ghost  immediately  from  heaven  without  the 
interposition  of  any  on  earth.  But  that  it  was  not  so  afterwards  is 
manifest  by  the  following  :  "  Now  when  the  apostles  who  were  at 
Jerusalem  heard  that  Samaria  had  received  the  word  of  God,  they 
sent  unto  them  Peter  and  John ;  who  when  they  were  come  down, 
prayed  for  them,  that  they  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  as  yet 
he  was  fallen  upon  none  of  them  ;  only  they  were  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Then  laid  they  their  hands  on  them,  and 
they  received  the  Holy  Ghost."  (Acts  viii.  14-17.)  "  Paul  having 
passed  through  the  upper  coasts,  came  to  Ephesus ;  and  finding  cer- 
tain disciples,  he  said  unto  them.  Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost 
since  ye  believed  .''  And  they  said  unto  him.  We  have  not  so  much 
as  heard  whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost.  And  when  Paul  had  laid 
his  hands  upon  them,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them  ;  and  they  spake 
with  tongues  and  prophesied."   (Acts  xix.  1—6.) 

And  furthermore,  it  is  found  that  even  Paul  himself  though  called 
to  be  an  apostle,  yet  as  his  conversion  to  the  faith  was  after  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  been  committed  to  the  Church,  he  could  not  receive  it  but 
by  some  member  of  that  anointed  body.  By  the  vision  he  saw  going 
to  Damascus  he  was  struck  blind  and  converted,  bat  could  in  that 
way  neither  have  his  sight  restored,  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
nor  told  what  he  must  do.  For  when  he  asked,  saying.  Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  .''  the  answer  was,  "  Arise,  and  go  into 
the  city  and  it  shall  be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do."  And  when 
he  had  done  so,  Ananias,  a  member  of  Christ,  having  received  a 
commandment  of  him,  entered  into  the  house,  and  putting  his  hands 
on  him,  said,  "  Brother  Saul,  the  Lord,  even  Jesus,  that  appeared 
unto  thee  in  the  way  as  thou  earnest,  hath  sent  me  that  thou  mightest 
receive  thy  sight  and  be  filled  with  the    Holy  Ghost."    (See  Acts 

It  is  worthy  of  particular  consideration,  that  before  Ananias  came 
Saul  had  remained  three  days  without  sight,  and  under  the  manifest 
marks  of  God's  displeasure  ;  by  which  it  is  the  more  evident  that  men 
cannot  be  initiated  into  union  and  fellowship  with  Christ,  exceptin 
union  with  his  body  the  Church.  Angels  cannot  minister  it.  Even 
the  angel  that  met  Saul  in  the  way,  although  he  came  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  and  spake  in  that  name,  could  not  minister  it.  Christ  is  the 
Saviour  of  the  souls  of  men,  not  angels ;  and  Christ  was  not  to  be  found 
save  in  his  temple.  The  Holy  Spirit  that  was  sent  in  Christ's  name 
as  he  had  promised,  and  had  taken  its  abode  in  the  Church,  acted 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  223 

and  judged  in  the  name  and  authority  of  Christ  on  earth.  And  none 
could  obtain  judgment  or  atonement  in  any  other  line.  The  treasures 
of  the  Gospel  were  committed  to  earthen  vessels,  these  were  the  light  of 
the  world  and  the  salt  or  savour  of  the  earth  ;  there  was  the  taberna- 
cle of  God,  his  altar  and  his  holy  fire,  so  clearly  prefigured  in  the  law 
of  Moses — there  were  the  keys,  and  the  power  to  bind  and  to  loose, 
to  remit  and  retain — there  was  the  entrance  into  the  kingdom — and 
there  could  be  no  other,  so  long  as  God  continued  to  be  a  God  of  or- 
der and  not  of  confusion. 

The  case  also  of  Cornelius  the  Centurion  serves  eminently  to 
prove  the  same  thing.  It  is  written  (Acts  x.  3),  that  "He  saw  in 
a  vision  evidently  about  the  ninth  hour  of  the  day,  an  angel  of 
God  coming  in  to  him,  and  saying  unto  him,  Cornelius.  And 
when  he  looked  on  him,  he  was  afraid,  and  said  unto  him.  What  is 
it.  Lord  ?  And  he  said  unto  him.  Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms  are 
come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God.  And  now  send  men  to< 
Joppa,  and  call  for  one  Simon,  whose  surname  is  Peter  ;  he  lodgeth 
with  one  Simon  a  tanner  whose  house  is  by  the  sea-side  :  he  shall  tell 
thee  what  thou  oughtest  to  do."  Peter  himself  afterwards  relates 
the  same  ;  "  And  we  entered  into  the  man's  house.  And  he  showed 
us  how  he  had  seen  an  angel  in  his  house,  who  stood  and  said  unto 
him.  Send  men  to  Joppa,  and  call  for  Simon,  whose  surname  is  Peter, 
who*  shall  tell  thee  words  whereby  thou  and  all  thy  house  shall  be 
saved.  And  as  I  began  to  speak,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them,  as 
on  us  at  the  beginning."  But  why  could  not  the  angel  have  told 
Cornelius  words  whereby  he  and  his  house  should  be  saved,  and  mi- 
nistered to  them  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Had  not  Jesus  ascended  to  the 
throne  of  God  in  the  heavens  }  and  had  not  Cornelius  seen  an  angel 
from  heaven  and  conversed  with  him  }  What  need  then  of  sending 
all  the  way  to  Joppa,  and  waiting  several  days  for  a  mortal  man  like 
themselves,  before  they  could  know  what  to  do,  or  receive  the  unc- 
tion.^ The  reason  is  plain,  as  shown  above.  "  No  man,"  saith  Jesus, 
"  cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  me."  And  saith  the  Apostle  ;  "  For 
as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the  members  of 
that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body;  so  also  is  Christ." 
Christ  in  his  body  was  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life,  and  none  could 
be  taught  the  way  or  receive  the  truth  and  the  life  separately  from 
that  body.  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches — As  my  father  hath 
sent  me  into  the  world  even  so  I  send  you  into  the  world — He  that 
receiveth  you  receiveth  me,  and  he  that  reeeiveth  me  receiveth  him 
that  sent  me.  As  ambassadors  of  Christ,  therefore,  we  pray  you  in 
Christ's  stead  be  ye  reconciled  to  God — For  judgment  am  I  come  into 
the  world — And  when  he  [the  Holy  Ghost]  cometh  he  shall  convince 
the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment — Know  ye  not 
that  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world.?  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit  they  are  remitted  unto  them ;  and  whoseso- 
ever sins  ye  retain  they  are  retained — And  many  that  believed  came  and 
confessed  and  showed  their  deeds — Confess  your  faults  one  to  another 
and  pray  one  for  another.    (Jas.  v.  16.) 

This  effect  of  coming  and  confessing  and  showing  their  deeds, 
seems  to  have  been  the  genuine  influence  of  divine  truth  on  the  heart, 
to  turn  the  man's  inside  out,  and  expose  him  in  the  light  of  his  true 


224  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

colours.  Thus  Christ  is  the  true  light  which  lighteneth  every  man  who 
Cometh  into  the  world  ;  and  every  honest,  faithful  man  feels  at  once 
the  propriety  of  exposing  the  dark  works  of  iniquity  in  the  light,  and 
of  putting  every  man  in  his  own  proper  place  according  to  his  proper 
character.  When  therefore  the  light  has  found  its  entrance  into  any 
man  who  heareth  the  Gospel,  he  may  bring  his  deeds  into  the  light, 
and  expose  himself,  in  the  regular  line  of  God's  judgment,  and  find 
mercy,  or  he  may,  in  many  cases,  shrink  from  the  light,  and  cover  up 
from  the  judgment  of  God  for  a  time,  until  he  shall  be  arraigned  in 
person,  (for  none  can  escape  the  judgment,)  with  all  his  sins  following 
him  to  his  greater  condemnation  ;  as  it  is  written,  "  Some  men's  sins 
are  open  beforehand,  going  before  to  the  judgment  :  and  some  they 
follow  after."  (1  Tim.  v.  24.)  But  this  influence  of  divine  light,  lead- 
ing people  to  confess  their  sins,  was  not  limited  to  the  primitive 
Church  ;  it  hath  been  experienced  in  modern  times,  in  divers  cases, 
among  those  who  had  no  understanding  of  the  line  of  God's  judg- 
ment, or  the  order  of  confession. 

Some  may  suppose  that  the  confession  here  spoken  of  is  not  abso 
lutely  necessary  for  all,  because  it  is  not  written  that  all  thai  believed 
came  and  confessed  and  showed  their  deeds,  but  only  many  of  them. 
But  since  it  is  clear  that  many  did  it,  what  reason  is  there  to  suppose 
that  any  did  not  who  were  sound  and  honest.  It  is  evident  a  great 
part  who  professed  in  that  day  were  far  from  being  real  Christians. 
For  a  proof  of  this  see  the  following  plain  and  honest  testimonies  to 
the  point :  "  From  whence  come  wars  and  fightings  among  you } 
"  Come  they  not  hence,  even  of  your  lusts,  that  war  in  your  mem- 
bers .''  Ye  lust,  and  ye  have  not :  ye  kill,  and  desire  to  have,  and 
cannot  obtain  :  ye  fight  and  war,  yet  ye  have  not,  because  ye  ask 
not :  ye  ask  and  receive  not,  because  ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  con- 
.sume  it  upon  your  lusts.  Ye  adulterers  and  adulteresses."  (Jas. 
iv.  1—3.)  "For  many  walk,  of  whom  I  have  told  yon  often,  and 
now  tell  you  even  weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of 
Christ ;  whose  end  is  destruction,  whose  God  is  their  belly,  and  whose 
glory  is  in  their  shame,  who  mind  earthly  things,"  "  These  are  spots 
in  your  feasts  of  charity,  when  they  feast  with  you,  feeding  themselves 
without  fear :  clouds  they  are  without  water,  carried  about  of 
winds;  trees  whose  fruit  withereth,  without  fruit,  twice  dead,  plucked 
up  by  the  roots."  "This  thou  knowest  that  all  they  which  are  in 
Asia  are  turned  awav  from  me."  (Phil.  iii.  18,  19  ;  Jude  12;  2  Tim. 
i.  15.) 

These  false  professors  were  not  real  membei'^  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  They  received  the  Gospel  only  as  seed  sowed  on  stony  ground, 
or  among  thorns,  and  very  likely  such  as  never  honestly  brought  their 
-deeds  to  the  light,  as  those  did  who  received  the  word  into  good  and 
honest  hearts.  But  that  is  no  proof  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  all  in 
order  to  acceptance  with  God.  The  orderly  work  of  the  Gospel  in 
one  or  a  few,  shows  its  mature  and  tendency  as  correctly  as  in  many, 
or  in  all.  Moreover,  the  phrase  many^  is  used  more  than  once,  when 
all  are  intended,  particularly  who  belong  to  a  certain  class,  or  are  the 
subjects  of  a  certain  work,  as,  "  If  through  the  offence  of  one  many 
[that  is,  the  whole  family  of  Adam]  be  dead,  [have  died]  ;  much 
more  the  grace  of  God,  and  the  gift  by  gi-ace  by  one  man,  Jesus 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  225 

Clirist,  hatli  abounded  to  many'''' — to  the  wliole  family  of  Clirist. 
"  And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake, 
some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt." That  is,  a//,  both  good  and  bad,  in  the  day  of  final  rewards. 
(Rom.  V.  15, 17,  19.  Dan.  xii.  2.)  Thus  we  understand  that  "  Many 
of  those  who  believed  came,  and  confessed,  and  showed  their  deeds" 
— all  those  whose  conviction  was  deep  and  whose  hearts  were  honest, 
and  who  were  intent  on  having  the  Gospel  in  its  fullness  and  purity, 
who  were  willing  to  endure  the  cross  despising  the  shame. 

Respecting  the  words  of  James  quoted  a  while  back,  where  he 
teaches  the  people  to  confess  their  faults  one  to  another,  it  has 
been  argued  that  they  cannot  relate  to  the  necessity  or  utility  of  con- 
fessing sins  to  God,  or  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  forgiveness 
of  God,  becatise  the  word  is,  faults  ;  and  a  criticism  has  been  intro- 
duced on  the  Greek  text,  that  the  word  is  not  [af;,apr(aj]  sins,  but 
[r^a^ctiiTLi^i^aroi]  faults,  errors,  blunders  or  the  like.  This  is  however 
a  flimsy  criticism  for  a  man  of  learning,  a  mere  evasion  to  blind  the 
weak  and  unlearned.  But  every  honest  man,  acquainted  with  the 
Greek  text,  can  easily  discover  the  cheat  by  observing  that  it  is  the 
same  word  by  which  the  Apostle  has  expressed  the  sin,  or  offence, 
of  him  by  whose  offence  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  condem- 
nation, and  by  whom  death  reigned,  as  well  as  the  numerous  offences 
committed  afterwards,  all  productive  of  condemnation  and  death. 
These,  therefore,  appear  to  be  doleful  and  pernicious  offences,  or 
faults,  well  deserving  the  name  of  sins. 

We  will  not  deny  that  [afxapria]  the  word  commonly  translated  s-iw, 
is  the  proper  word  to  communicate  the  notion  of  sin,  in  its  nature  and 
inward  principles,  as :  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the 
sin  [a(xapT-iav]  of  the  world."  (Jno.i.  29.)  Neither  will  we  deny  that 
it  is  commonly,  and  very  properly,  used  to  express  sinful  actions.  But 
it  is  also  certain  that  the  apostle  Paul  uses  the  same  word  [TrccpofTi'TWfxaj 
which  the  apostle  James  uses,  and  which  is  translated/aw/fs — this  same 
word  I  say  Paul  uses  to  express  those  acts  of  iniquity  which  Adam  first, 
and  his  children  after  him,  committed,  which  bring  condemnation  and 
death  ;  and  these  are  the  proper  burden  of  confession  ;  these  are  sins. 
"For  if,  through  the  offence  [ma^a.qcruiy^an']  of  one,  many  be  dead," 
[dffstlavov,  have  died;]  "For  if  by  one  man's  offence  [^apa'TrrtjfjLari] 
death  reigned  by  one."  Therefore,  as  by  the  offence  [Trapa-Trrcbfj^aToj] 
of  one,  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation."  The  same 
Apostle,  also,  a  few  verses  before,  (Rom.  iv.  25,)  has  used  precisely 
the  same  word  [y; abater u^txr a]  to  describe  the  sins  for  which  Christ 
was  delivered  to  death,  who  was  delivered  for  our  offences  or  faults, 
according  to  the  same  word,  as  used  by  James.  That  the  apostle 
James  had  a  direct  view  to  the  confession  of  sins,  properly  so  called, 
is  confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  Church  in  the  first  century,  which 
was  that  in  which  the  apostles  lived  and  wrote.  "Those  who  were 
visited  with  violent  and  dangerous  disorders  sent,  according  to  the 
Apostle's  direction,  for  the  rulers  of  the  Church,  and,  after  confessing 
their  sins,  were  recommended  by  them  to  the  Divine  mercy."  [Eccl. 
Hist.  V.  1.  p.  127.)  The  same  historical  accounts  show  us  that  the 
practice  of  confessing  sins  was  always  kept  in  the  Church,  among  the 
various  classes  who  professed  the  Christian  name,  whether  those  who 
16 


226  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS, 

were  counted  the  orttodox  Clmrcli,  and  held  the  power  of  law  in  their 
hands,  or  those  who  were  counted  heretics,  and  suffered  the  persecu- 
tion of  their  lordly  oppressors.  The  above  extract  gives  us  a  mode- 
rate intimation  of  the  state  of  things  in  the  first  century,  as  being 
sanctioned  by  the  Apostle's  counsel  to  the  sick,  which  is  in  immediate 
and  direct  connection  with  the  counsel  to  confess  one  to  another,  as  a 
part  of  the  same  instruction  ;  and  this  relation  shows  that  the  primi- 
tive Church  understood  it  of  the  confession  of  sins,  properly  so  called. 
And,  in  the  seventh,  we  have  an  account  of  the  confession  of  sins 
spoken  of  as  a  common  matter  known  to  all,  and  not  as  an  innovation, 
but,  like  other  apostolic  instructions,  after  the  apostacy  got  in,  suffer- 
ing the  modifications  and  regulations  of  men.  Thus,  the  following  ex- 
tract states  :  "  This  zealous  prelate  (Theodore)  formed,  and  executed, 
several  pious  and  laudable  projects,  and,  among  other  things,  reduced 
to  a  regular  science  that  branch  of  the  ecclesiastical  law  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  penitential  discipline.  He  published  a.  penitential 
which  was  entirely  new  to  the  Latin  world,  by  which  the  clergy  were 
taught  to  distinguish  sins  into  various  classes,  according  as  they  were 
more  or  less  heinous,  private  or  public ;  to  judge  of  them  and  deter- 
mine the  degrees  of  their  guilt  by  their  nature  and  consequences,  the 
intention  of  the  offender,  the  time  and  place  in  which  they  were  com- 
mitted, and  the  circumstances  with  which  they  were  attended.  This 
new  penitential  contained  also  the  methods  of  proceeding  with  respect 
to  offenders ;  pointed  out  the  penalties  that  were  suitable  to  the  various 
classes  of  trangression  ;  prescribed  the  forms  of  consolation^  exhortation 
and  absolution ;  described,  in  an  ample  and  accurate  manner,  the  du- 
ties and  obligations  of  those  who  were  to  receive  the  confessions  of  the 
penitent."  (Eod.  V.  2. p.  177.)  We  need  no  plainer  testimony  that 
this  penitential  of  Theodore  embraced  the  universally  acknowledged 
practice,  and  indisputable  propriety,  of  confessing  sins  to  the  Gospel 
ministry,  that  is  to  God,  in  them,  or  in  their  presence. 

In  the  twelfth  century  there  seems  to  have  existed  a  dispute,  or 
controversy,  with  respect  to  the  confession  of  sins,  between  the  Wal- 
denses,  a  people  justly  esteemed  for  their  piety  and  good  faith,  and 
the  Roman  Church  ;  not  relating  to  the  propriety  or  duty  of  confess- 
ing sins,  for  that  was  granted  on  both  sides,  but  whether  confession 
must  of  necessity  be  made  to  the  priesthood,  or  whether  it  would  be 
sufficient  if  made  to  a  private  Christian.  Of  the  Waldensesitissaid  : 
"  They,  at  the  same  time,  affirmed,  that  every  pious  Christian  was 
qualified,  and  entitled,  to  prescribe  to  the  penitent  the  kind  and  dio- 
^ree  of  satisfaction,  or  expiation,  that  their  transgressions  required; 
that  confession  made  to  priests  was  by  no  means  necessary,  since  the 
humble  offender  (^sinner)  might  acknowledge  (confess)  his  sins  and 
testify  his  repentance  to  any  true  believer,  and  might  expect  from 
such  the  covmsels  and  admonitions  that  his  case  and  circumstances 
demanded."  (Eod.  V.  3.  pp.  120,  121.)  No  doubt  but  the  Wal- 
denses  were  led  to  this  view,  of  confessing  to  believers  in  common, 
from  two  considerations.  The  first  was,  that  in  the  days  of  primitive 
Christianity  the  business  of  ministering  the  Gospel,  and  taking  a  part 
in  the  edification  of  others,  was  not  confined  to  the  priesthood,  or  the 
appointed  ministry,  as  it  was  in  after  times  among  those  who  have  as- 
sumed the  character  of  orthodox  or  orderly  Christians.    And  the 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  227 

second,  to  resist  the  abuses  whicli  were  introdu,ced  by  tbe  Roman 
priesthood  in  that,  with  every  other,  Christian  institution.  But  that 
a  proper  ministerial  order,  or  priesthood,  belongs  to  the  Church  of 
Christ,  it  is  evident,  not  only  by  the  Scripture  testimony,  as  shown 
before,  but  by  the  attempts  which  Antichrist  has  made,  in  his  various 
branches,  to  imitate  and  keep  it  up  :  by  arbitrary  authority  after  the 
apostacy  took  place. 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  the  history  of  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries,  and  support  the  evidence  that  the  same 
practice,  of  confessing  sins  to  God  in  his  ministers,  was  universally 
approved,  though  some  disputes  existed  relating  to  this  point :  Who 
were  the  proper  persons .?  But  that  they  were  in  the  true  Church, 
wherever  that  was,  has  been  always  granted;  for  in  that  is  the  pow- 
er of  forgiveness  and  salvation,  and  of  necessity  those  who  keep  it. 
Accordingly,  in  the  following  extracts  this  power  is  granted  to  exist 
in  the  Church  ;  but  a  controversy  existed  with  respect  to  the  order  of 
communicating  it.  They  are  taken  from  the  history  of  the  mendicant 
friars,  who  are  said  to  have  received  such  uncommon  privileges  as  to 
excite  discontent  and  opposition  against  them.  "  Such,  among  many 
other  extraordinary  prerogatives,  was  the  permission  they  received 
from  the  pontiffs,  of  preaching  to  the  multitude,  hearing  confession^ 
and  pronouncing  absolution  without  any  license  from  the  bishops." 
(Eod.  V.  3.  p.  194.)  "  But  John  de  Polliac  set  himself  openly 
against  them,  publicly  denying  the  validity  of  the  absolution  granted 
by  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  to  those  who  confessed  to  them, 
maintaining  that  the  Popes  were  disabled  from  granting  them  a  power 
of  absolution  by  the  authority  of  the  canon,  entitled,  onmis  utriusque 
sexus,  and  proving  from  these  premises,  that  all  those  who  would  be 
sure  of  salvation,  ought  to  confess  their  sins  to  their  own  parish  priests, 
even  though  they  had  been  absolved  by  the  monks."  (Eod.  V.  3. 
p.  322.)  And  so  universally  was  the  practice  acknowledged  and  au- 
thenticated, that  the  Lutheran  Church  kept  up  the  practice,  notwith- 
standing the  great  opposition  between  them  and  the  Catholics,  and 
the  casting  off  by  the  former  of  so  many  things  practised  by  the  lat- 
ter. But  the  professed  principles  of  all  who  dissented  from  the 
Church  of  Rome  in  many  centuries,  or  bore  testimony  against  her, 
being  to  reform  the  Church,  or  restore  the  primitive  simplicity  of  the 
Gospel,  would  naturally  include  the  confession  of  sins  in  the  living 
temple  or  house  of  God,  which  was  unquestionably  known  to  be  a 
practice  and  an  order  descending  in  direct  line  from  the  apostles  and 
primitive  Christians.  It  is  related  in  history,  that  a  certain  John 
Caspar  Schade,  near  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  "  in- 
veighed with  the  greatest  bitterness,  against  the  custom  that  prevails 
in  the  Lutheran  Church  of  confessing  privately  to  the  clergy."  (V.  5. 
p.  317.)  Thus  by  these  few  testimonies,  as  well  as  by  the  testimony 
of  the  Scriptures,  it  is  suihciently  evident  that  no  people  ever  had 
any  correct  order  or  form  of  the  Christian  profession  without  embrac- 
ing in  it  the  universal  practice  of  confessing  their  sins  to  God,  and 
that  too  before  his  witnesses,  or  those  who  were  so  reputed,  or  in  his 
living  temple,  the  proper  place  to  offer  up  sacrifices  according  to  the 
Gospel,  acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ. 

The   Catholics  are  acknowledged  to  have  universally  made  use  of 


23^ 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 


confession.  And  I  know  of  nothing  which,  the  people  helieve  con- 
cerning the  Catholic  faith,  which  discovers  more  brutish  ignorance 
of  God  and  man,  than  the  supposition  that  they  invented  it  them- 
selves, or  introduced  it  from  any  other  source  than  the  revelation  of 
God  or  apostolic  authority :  except  the  supposition  that  they  or  any 
other  people  ever  invented  the  testimony  or  the  faith  and  cross 
against  the  sexual  intercourse  in  the  flesh,  or  ever  received  such  a 
faith  except  from  God.  The  Catholics,  and  others  who  were  counted 
heretics  by  them,  agree  in  the  authenticity  and  utility  of  the  prac- 
tice ;  and  they  could  never  have  held  the  people  to  it  so  long,  not 
only  the  ignorant  and  the  superstitious,  but  the  learned,  the  judicious, 
and  the  most  pious,  had  it  not  been  of  God  and  well  au.thenticated. 
For  there  is  nothing  in  it  so  agreeable  to  nature,  that  men  would  in- 
vent or  cleave  to  such  a  practice  for  nought.  And  whatever  earthly 
emoluments  may  have  accrued  to  the  Roman  priesthood,  and  how- 
ever they  might  have  duped  the  laity,  to  the  practice  for  their  own 
interest,  this  could  have  been  no  motive  to  those  who,  from  time  to 
time,  testified  against  the  Roman  Catholic  practices,  and  thereby  ex- 
posed themselves  to  persecution  and  to  death.  Bu.t  the  corruptions 
and  abuses  with  which  the  Catholics  have  murdered  all  the  Christian 
institutions,  give  this  one  a  poor  appearance  in  their  hands,  and  may 
have  been  one  cause  why  Calvinists  and  other  dissenters  from  the 
Roman  Church  cast  off  the  practice  with  the  abuses.  Nevertheless 
the  Roman  Church,  in  connection  with  those  of  a  more  commenda- 
ble practice,  and  who  are  called  heretics,  is  an  abiding  and  swift  wit- 
ness in  vindication  of  the  true  order  of  God  in  the  confession  and  for- 
giveness of  sins.  For  although  they  have  long  been  entirely  desti- 
tute of  the  true  Spirit  and  power  of  Christ,  "  having  a  form  of  god- 
liness but  denying  the  power,"  they  have  preserved  the  form,  or 
rather  the  skeleton  of  it,  the  most  correctly  of  any  other  people,  like- 
ly, on  earth,  and  are  the  best  able  to  prove  their  descent  in  a  direct 
line  from  the  apostles. 

But  the  nature  of  the  Gospel  work  is  such  as  to  show,  as  I  may 
say,  in  explicit  terms,  that  the  power  of  salvation,  including  the  con- 
fession and  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  is  in  the  Church  on  earth.  "  For 
we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord  ;  and  ourselves 
your  servants  for  Jesus'  sake.  For  God,  who  commanded  the  light  to 
shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  But 
we  have  this  treasure  [God  and  his  Christ]  in  earthen  vessels,  that 
the  excellency  of  the  power  may  be  of  God,  and  not  of  us."  And 
again  :  "  But  the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith  speaketh  on  this  wise, 
Say  not  in  thine  heart.  Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven  t  (that  is  to 
bring  Christ  down  from  above  :)  or.  Who  shall  descend  into  the  deep  .' 
(that  is,  to  bring  up  Christ  again  from  the  dead.)  But  what  saithit? 
The  word  is  nigh  thee,  in  thy  mouth  and  in  thy  heart  ;  that  is,  the 
word  of  faith  which  we  preach.  That  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy 
mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  raised 
him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For  with  the  heart  man  be- 
lieveth  unto  righteousness,"  (or  acknowledges  and  contemplates 
the  way  in  which  it  is  to  be  obtained  ;  and  so  his  faith  is  imputed  to 
him  for  righteousness  thus  far,  slg  SoKaio(jvvri\ .     The  same  phrase  is  used 


THE    CONFESSION    OP    SINS.  229 

wticK  is  rendered,/or  righteousness ^  when  Abraham's  faith,  or  believing, 
is  said  to  be  imputed  to  him.  But  to  obtain  salvation,  more  than  be- 
lieving has  to  be  done,)  "  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto 
salvation,"  {sk  Cwri^piav,  for  salvation,  as  setting  out  to  obtain  it :  for  sal- 
vation is  the  end  or  result,  and  perfecting  of  faith  and  obedience,  and  not 
the  beginning.)  For  the  Scripture  saith,  "  Whosoever  believelh  on  him 
shall  not  be  ashamed.  For  there  is  no  difference  between  the  Jew  and 
the  Greek."  (2  Cor.  iv.  5,  6,  7  ;  Rom.  x.  6,  &c.) 

In  these  Scriptures  we  are  clearly  taught  that  Christ,  the  salvation  of 
God,  and  the  power  of  God  to  salvation,  dwells  with  men  on  earth.  We 
have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels.  What  treasure  .''  The  power  of 
God  to  salvation — God  himself,  who  first  commanded  the  light  to  shine 
out  of  darkness,  and  who  also  has  shined  into  our  hearts  to  give  us  the 
light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face,  or  person,  [sv 
•Tr'poo'W'Tfw]  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  as  it  shineth  in  him — that  is  very  Christ 
the  Saviour.  Again:  the  Word  is  nigh  thee;  the  Logos,  [Xoyoj]  the 
eternal  Word.  So  that  there  is  no  need  to  say  in  thine  heart,  even 
once  to  think.  Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven,  to  bring  Christ  down  ;  for 
he  hath  already  come  and  taken  up  his  abode  with  men  ;  or  Who  shall 
■descend  into  the  deep,  or  into  ^a(?es,  the  place  of  departed  spirits,  to 
bring  up  Christ  again  from  the  dead,  for  he  is  already  risen,  and  we  are 
quickened  together  with  him  by  the  same  Spirit ;  for  he  dwelleth  in  us. 
The  word  which  we  preach,  say  the  men  of  God.  The  word  of  faith  ; 
the  word  of  God  by  which  faith  cometh,  or  is  produced,  when  it  is 
preached  and  heard,  as  well  as  that  Word  which  is  the  object  of  faith, 
the  word  of  God,  which  is  Christ.  Seeing  then  that  Christ,  the  salva- 
tion of  God,  has  his  habitation  in  his  Church  with  the  fullness  of  salva- 
tion, and  he  is  the  head  of  the  body  ;  no  reasonable  doubt  can  exist  but 
there  is  the  correct  and  orderly  place  to  confess  sins,  and  find  forgive- 
ness and  salvation.  And  as  Christ,  the  power  of  salvation,  is  known 
only  in  his  body,  the  Church,  which  is  Christ,  no  man  can  confess 
Christ  the  Lord  with  his  mouth  in  any  other  order  or  way  disconnected 
fromthis  body.  To  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  is  more  than  a 
s'erbal  acknowledgment  that  he  is  the  Christ,  and  that  God  has  raised 
him  from  the  dead ;  for  many  make  this  verbal  confession,  and  believe 
in  their  hearts  that  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  yet  know  not 
the  way  of  salvation.  In  strictness  of  language  all  who  believe  this 
fact  at  all,  believe  it  in  their  hearts  ;  for  they  have  no  other  method  or 
place  to  believe  it.  But  the  phraseology,  both  here  and  by  Philip  to 
the  eunuch,  is  no  doubt  intended  to  be  very  special  and  emphatical,  im- 
plying sincerity  of  conviction  and  honesty  of  intention  with  confession, 
or  that  believing  which  takes  the  heart,  and  the  heart  chooses  the  thing 
believed  :  the  faith  and  confession  must  go  together  And  this  confes- 
sion must  indubitably  be  such  as  to  comprehend  the  whole  character 
and  commission  of  Christ,  as  the  messenger  of  the  covenant,  or  cove- 
nant of  salvation  itself,  from  God  to  men,  with  full  subjection  and  obe- 
dience, according  to  what  is  written  :  "  I  will  give  thee  for  a  coven  ant 
of  the  people,"  [nn3,  a  purifier  or  Saviour.]  If  then  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
forgiver  of  sins,  in  whose  name  remission,  or  pardon  of  sins  is  preached, 
which  is  indubitably  true  ;  and  if  confession  is  necessary  to  forgiveness, 
which  is  also  true, as  already  proved;  it  remains  true  and  proved  :  that 
without  confessing  our  sins  to  him  in  his  body,  where  alone  he  is  known. 


230  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

there  is  no  confessing  the  Lord  Jesus  with  the  mouth  to  salvation.  It  there- 
fore remains  true,  That  the  Son  of  man  has  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins 
and  a  people  in  whom  that  power  resides  and  operates  ;  and  the  saj'ing 
is  fulfilled,  which  is  written:  "Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together, 
righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each  other.  Truth  shall  spring 
out  of  the  earth  ;  and  righteousness  shall  look  down  from  heaven. 
Righteousness  shall  go  before  him,  and  shall  set  us  in  the  way  of  his 
steps."  (Psa.  Ixxxv.  iO,  11,  13.)  They  who  dwell  on  the  earth  and  in 
earthly  tabernacles,  practise  on  the  principles  of  honesty  and  truth  ;  and 
the  LORD  OUR  RIGHTEOUSNESS  looks  down  from  heaven  and 
takes  his  abode  with  men  :  they  who  in  an  honest  and  good  heart  re- 
ceive the  word,  bring  forth  fruit. 

The  words  of  the  apostle  Peter,  which  have  already  been  introduced, 
perfectly  accord  with  what  is  here  stated.  "  To  whom  coming,  as  unto 
a  living  stone,  disallowed  indeed  of  men,  but  chosen  of  God,  and  pre- 
cious, ye  also  as  living  stones,  are  built  up  a  spiritual  house,  an  holy 
priesthood  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ.  Wherefore  also,  it  is  contained  in  the  Scripture,  Behold  I  lay 
in  Sion  a  chief  corner-stone,  elect,  precious  :  and  he  that  believeth  on 
him  shall  not  be  confounded."  "  But  ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a 
royal  priesthood,  an  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people ;  that  ye  should 
show  forth  the  praises  of  him  who  hath  called  you  out  of  darkness  into 
his  marvellous  light ;  which  in  time  past  were  not  a  people,  but  are 
now  the  people  of  God,  which  had  not  obtained  mercy,  but  now  have 
obtained  mercy."  (1  Pet.  ii.  4,  5,  6,  9,  10.)  Accordingly  we  have  the 
united  testimony  of  the  apostles  in  their  writings,  that  Christ  with  his 
whole  salvation  dwells  in  his  Church  on  earth  ;  the  Church  is  his 
peculiar  people,  a  people  for  a  possession,  or  acquisition  ;  [Xao^  s]g  -rspf- 
"roivjtfiv  ;]  that  is,  his  temple,  or  house  wherein  to  offer  sacrifices,  make  con- 
fession, and  offer  praise  ;  therein  are  his  priests  to  receive  the  offerings 
and  make  attonement ;  this  same  Church  is  his  kingdom,  the  people, 
the  members  of  which  show  forth  the  praises  of  him  who  has  called 
them  out  of  darkness  into  .light.  These  are  the  inhabitants  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth,  as  it  is  written  in 
another  place  :  "  For  our  conversation  is  in  heaven,"  or  [•jfoXiVsu/xa] 
citizenship  is  in  the  heavens  ;  we  are  the  free  inhabitants  of  that  king- 
dom ;  we  are  come  to  Mount  Zion,  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heaven- 
ly Jerusalem  ;  and  there  Christ  dwells  ;  the  same  who  has  power  on 
earth  to  forgive  sins.  "  From  whence  also  we  look  for  the  Lord  Je- 
sus." (Phil.  iii.  20.)  From  the  same  heaven  of  which  we  are  the 
citizens. 

Now  in  all  these  things  it  is  evident  that  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord 
is  acknowledged  to  be  the  substance  and  fountain  of  the  salvation  of 
God  to  men,  even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  the  Great  High  Priest, 
the  hearer  of  confessions,  and  the  forgiver  of  sins,  through  whom  we 
receive  the  atonement.  But  Christ  is  in  his  temple  according  to  the 
established  order  of  God ;  and  there  he  is  a  stumbling-stone  and 
rock  of  offence  ;  "  As  it  is  written,  Behold,  I  lay  in  Sion  a  stumbling- 
stone,  and  rock  of  offence  :  and  whosoever  believeth  on  him  shall  not 
he  ashamed."  (Rom.  ix.  33.)  The  people  can  endure  to  worship  a 
Christ  far  off,  whom  they  cannot  see,  and  whose  habitation  is  unknown ; 
hut  Christ  in  his  living  temple,  which  is  visible  and  accessible,  and  be 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS.  231 

accessible  and  visible  in  it,  is  too  much  for  natural  men  to  endure — 
he  is  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  rock  of  offence. 

"  But  such  an  high  priest  became  us,  who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled 
and  separate  from  sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens."  (Heb. 
vii.  26.)  It  was  necessary  that  one  should  find  access  to  the  throne 
of  God  first,  as  a  forerunner  in  the  behalf  of  the  rest ;  and  he  must 
necessarily  be  one  who  was  separate  from  sinners,  for  no  sinner  could 
have  obtained  access  to  the  throne,  for  the  want  of  a  Mediator,  and 
especially  because  he  would  have  been  in  an  agreement  with  other 
sinners,  and  therefore  could  never  have  overcome  the  carnal  mind 
which  is  enmity  against  God  and  rules  in  the  wicked,  nor  have  trod- 
den the  wicked  under  his  feet.  But  Jesus  our  Great  High  Priest, 
kept  himself  separate  from  sinners  ;  for  "  he  did  no  sin,  neither  was 
guile  found  in  his  mouth  ;"  and  he  gained  access  to  the  throne  of  God 
and  to  his  mercy-seat,  when  he  had  no  Mediator,  and  thus  became  a 
Mediator  for  sinners  in  their  lost  estate.  And  this  he  did  through 
consummate  sufferings  and  the  most  painful  labours.  "  And  he  saw 
that  there  was  no  man,  [to  stand  between  him  and  the  throne  of  God,] 
and  he  wondered  that  there  was  no  intercessor  ;"  (or,  he  was  brought 
into  consternation  ;  DDiniyi,  from  DDty  a  root  importing,  wasting  or  con- 
sumption—  The  zeal  of  thine  house  hath  consumed  me  ;)  because  there 
was  no  intercessor  ;  "  Therefore  his  own  arm  brought  salvation  to  him, 
and  his  righteousness  it  sustained  him."  "  I  have  trodden  the  wine- 
press alone ;  and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  me  ;  for  I  have 
trodden  them  in  mine  anger  and  trampled  them  in  my  fury ;  [the  na- 
ture of  men  and  all  the  people  who  abide  in  it  ;]  and  their  blood  hath 
been  sprinkled  upon  my  garments,  and  I  have  stained  all  my  raiment. 
For  the  day  of  vengeance  [against  evil]  is  in  my  heart,  and  the  year 
of  my  redeemed  is  come."  (I  am  determind  to  find  eternal  redemp- 
tion.) "  And  I  looked  and  there  was  none  to  help  ;  and  I  wondered 
that  there  was  none  to  uphold :  [or  I  was  brought  into  consternation, 
as  above,  and  yet  there  was  none  to  uphold  :]  therefore  mine  own  arm 
brought  salvation  to  me  ;  and  my  fury,  it  .upheld  me."  "  But  Christ 
being  come  an  high  priest  of  good  things  to  come,  by  a  greater  and 
more  perfect  tabernacle  not  made  with  hands,  that  is  to  say,  not  of 
this  building,  neither  by  the  blood  of  goats  and  calves,  but  by  his  own 
blood,  he  entered  in  once  into  the  holy  place,  having  obtained  [Greek, 
found,  supaf/,£voff]  eternal  redemption"  for  us  ;  having  first  gained  it 
himself,  according  to  the  words  of  the  prophet  just  quoted.  Thus  he 
is  become  our  great  high  priest,  who  is  made  perfect  through  suffer- 
ings, and  is  the  head  of  the  body,  in  whom  all  the  priesthood  are  com- 
prehended, who  minister  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  great 
high  priest,  receive  the  offerings  of  the  people,  hear  their  confessions, 
and  make  atonement,  according  to  the  true  order  of  God  in  the  Gos- 
pel, the  fulfillment  and  substance  of  that  Mfhich  was  set  forth  by  shadows 
under  the  law.  "  As  thou  hast  sent  me  into  the  world,"  said  Jesus, 
*'  even  so  have  I  sent  them  into  the  world.  And  the  glory  which  thou 
gavest  me  I  have  given  them ;  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are 
one :  I  in  them  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in 
one."  So  that  wherever  his  people  are,  there  is  Christ,  and  there  is 
the  Father ;  and  whatever  commission  Jesus  the  Christ  had  to  the 
world,  the  same  have  his  ministers  ;  provided  always,  that  he  is  the 


232  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

head  and  forerunner,  who  opened  the  way,  and  always  has  the  pre- 
eminence. Is  it  given  to  him  of  the  Father  to  execute  judgment ;  so 
is  it  to  his  people.  "  Know  ye  not  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the 
world."  Is  he  the  high  priest  of  his  people,  to  whom  it  is  proper  and 
necessary  to  make  confession  of  sins  ;  so  are  his  ministers  his  subor- 
dinate priests,  as  has  been  fairly  stated  and  proved.  Had  the  Son  of 
man  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  by  the  commission  and  gift  of  the 
Father  ;  so  have  his  ministers  by  the  commission  and  gift  of  the  Son. 
"  Then  said  Jesus  to  them  again.  Peace  be  unto  you  ;  as  my  Father 
hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.  And  when  he  had  said  this  he 
breathed  on  them,  and  said  unto  them,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them  ;  and  whose- 
soever sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained :"  and  so  in  other  respects,  as 
shown  in  its  place. 

Once  more,  Jesus  said  to  his  disciples  :  "  He  that  receiveth  you 
receiveth  me  ;  and  he  that  receiveth  me,  receiveth  him  that  sent 
me."  And  that  saying  is  true,  not  only  as  it  respects  the  first 
disciples,  but  of  all  his  ministers.  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
He  that  receiveth  whomsoever  I  send^  receiveth  me  ;  and  he  that 
receiveth  me,  receiveth  him  that  sent  me."  (Matt.  x.  40  ;  John  xiii. 
20.)  Therefore,  seeing  the  Son  and  the  Father  are  in  his  ministers, 
or  ambassadors,  to  that  effect,  that  he  who  receiveth  them  receiveth 
both  the  Son  and  the  Father  who  sent  him,  no  reasonable  objection 
can  be  raised  ;  yea,  it  is  undeniable  and  irresistible,  that  they  who 
confess  their  sins  to  them  that  he  has  sent,  that  is,  to  any  faithful 
and  true  minister  of  Christ,  in  the  faith  of  his  authority  and  his  com- 
mission to  his  ministers,  do  in  reality  confess  to  him  and  to  the  Father 
who  sent  him.  And  on  the  other  hand  ;  "  He  that  despiseth  you, 
despiseth  me  ;  and  he  that  despiseth  me,  despiseth  him  that  sent 
me."  (Luke  x.  16.)  It  is  therefore  evident,  that  they  who  reject 
or  despise  the  ministers  of  Christ,  refusing  to  confess  their  sins  to 
them,  or  to  God  in  them,  and  in  their  hearing,  will  be  esteemed  by 
Christ  as  refusing  to  confess  to  him.  Without  this  confession  there- 
fore, no  real  or  acceptable  confession  of  Christ  in  his  true  character 
and  commission  can  be  made  :  and  they  who  deny  it  deny  Christ ; 
and  he  will  deny  them  before  his  Father  and  before  the  holy  angels. 
He  is  no  finished  minister  of  Christ,  who  will  refuse  to  stand  in  the 
place  of  Christ  as  his  witness,  or  living  temple,  and  hear  the  honest 
confession  of  those  who  are  intent  on  having  salvation.  "  Now  then, 
we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  [u*£p  XpitfrS  ;  in  Christ's  stead,  or  in  the 
behalf  of  Christ,]  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us  :  we  pray  you, 
in  Christ's  stead,  [or  in  the  behalf  of  Christ,  vits^  XpirfrS  as  above,]  be 
ye  reconciled  to  God."  (2  Cor.  v.  20.)  And  on  the  same  principle 
of  receiving  Christ  and  rejecting  him,  confessing  him  and  denying  him, 
serving  him  and  neglecting  him  in  his  people,  the  final  judgment  of  all 
men  is  eternally  decided.  "  And  the  King  shall  answer,  and  say  unto 
them,  [the  righteous  who  have  done  good  deeds  to  their  brethren,] 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least 
of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  to  me."  Again  :  "  Then  shall 
he  answer  them,  [the  wicked  who  have  not  done  good  to  his  people,] 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of 
these  ye  did  it  not  to  me.  And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting 
punishment :  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal.     (Matt.  xxv.  40,  &c.) 


THE    CONFESSION    OP    SINS.  233 

It  is  objected  by  some,  as  being  of  great  weight  against  the  order  of 
confessing  sins  to  God  in  his  ministers,  or  to  men,  as  they  call  it,  that 
it  sets  men  in  the  place  of  God  and  robs  God  of  the  honour  due 
to  him,  transferring  it  to  the  creature.  To  remove  this  difficulty  from 
the  minds  of  the  honest,  let  it  be  observed,  that  what  God  requires  is 
obedience^  which  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  obey^  than  all  whole 
burnt-offerings.  The  true  way  to  honour  and  glorify  God,  is  to  yield  a 
willing  and  hearty  obedience  to  his  order  and  appointments,  and  his  or- 
der is  to  do  his  work  through  the  medium  of  men,  or  by  men,  who  are 
his  ministers,  appointed  to  that  office.  "  Now  then,"  saith  the  Apos- 
tle, "  we  are  ambassadors  for  [in  the  behalf  or  instead  of  Christ,]  as 
though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us;  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be 
ye  reconciled  to  God."  And  saith  Jesus  ;  "  He  that  receiveth  whom- 
soever I  send  receiveth  me. 

Now  the  question  is  ;  does  it  honour  God  most  to  submit  to  his  institu- 
tions and  receive  his  ambassadors  in  their  full  and  proper  character,  or 
to  pass  them  by,  saying,  we  will  go  directly  to  God,  or  to  Christ,  and 
treat  with  him,  and  so  make  our  peace?  When  the  American  Govern- 
ment sent  ambassadors  with  full  powers,  (or  plenipotentiaries,  as  the 
modern  term  is :  and  such  are  all  Christ's  ministers,)  to  treat  with 
Great  Britain,  did  Great  Britain  do  most  honour  to  the  American  Gov- 
ernment by  consenting  to  treat  with  her  ministers  and  thus  acknow- 
ledging the  validity  of  her  instructions  ;  or  would  it  have  been  more 
honourable  still  to  the  American  Government,  for  Great  Britain  to  have 
said,  "  We  acknowledge  you  as  the  true  ministers  of  the  American 
Government,  and  we  joyfully  receive  all  the  tidings  which  ye  bring, 
relating  to  proposals  of  peace  ;  nevertheless,  it  is  not  sufficient  to  sign 
a  treaty  with  you,  but  we  will  receive  and  obey  you  so  far,  that  we  will 
go  to  the  American  Government  and  to  the  President  and  Congress, 
and  there  make  peace  with  them."  Will  not  every  one  understand,  in 
a  m.oment,  that  the  last  proposition  would  have  been  an  affront  on  the 
Goverment,  by  disallowing  the  validity  of  her  instructions  ?  Or  on  the 
other  hand ;  had  the  American  ministers  told  the  people  or  ministers  of 
Great  Britain,  saying :  "  We  are  indeed  American  ministers  in  as  full 
power  as  any  such  can  be,  so  that  if  ye  receive  us  and  make  a  treaty 
of  peace  with  us,  ye  do  the  same  with  our  government ;  nevertheless, 
if  ye  would  be  at  peace  with  America,  ye  must  go  immediately  to  the 
President,  or  to  the  Congress,  and  there  make  your  offerings  and  come 
on  terras."  Would  not  every  one  see,  at  first  view,  that  they  had  dis- 
honoured their  mission,  and  no  longer  deserved  the  name  of  ministers- 
plenipotentiary  } 

Thus  it  lis  sufficiently  plain  to  be  understood,  that  any  man  who 
comes  forth,  in  the  character  of  a  minister  of  Christ,  called  and  sent  of 
God,  and  says  to  the  people,  "  I  am  sent  to  preach  to  you  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  for  your  peace  and  salvation  ;  nevertheless  I  cannot  help  you, 
ye  must  go  to  God,  or  to  Christ,  [be  it  in  secret  or,  where  it  may  be 
except  through  the  ministry,]  and  make  your  peace  with  him  ;"  he 
dishonours  God,  and  forfeits  the  character  of  a  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ.  And  the  people  who  will  acknowledge  the  ministers  of 
Christ,  as  such,  but  are  too  incredulous  to  risk  making  their  peace  with 
God  through  them,  or  hope  to  find  God  in  some  other  way,  are  evidently 
unacquainted  with  God,  ignorant  of  his  true  order  of  salvation,  and  do 


234  THE    CONFESSION    OF    SINS. 

dishonour  him,  by  discrediting  and  rejecting  his  institutions  and  instruc- 
tions. 

The  embassage,  or  ministry  of  reconciliation,  with  which  the  minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel  are  intrusted,  is  indeed  a  more  finished  commission 
than  any  such  thing  among  the  nations.  God's  terms  with  which  he 
furnishes  his  ambassadors,  and  by  which  he  limits  them,  are  the  most 
equitable,  and  the  most  profitable  which  can  be  proposed,  so  that  there 
is  no  need  or  room  for  men  to  propose  any  alteration  to  suit  their  inclina- 
tions or  abilities  :  it  is  for  them  to  take  him  on  his  terms  or  remain  ene- 
mies ;  whereas  nations  have  no  natural  right  to  such  power  over  one 
another.  Besides,  as  the  nations  have  their  governments,  or  centres  of 
power,  ministers  from  one  to  another,  treat  with  the  nation  through 
that  centre,  and  not  with  each  individual  separately ;  whereas  God's 
ministers  are  sent  to  each  and  every  individual,  separately  and  collec- 
tively, and  if  a  nation  or  neighbourhood  will  not  receive  them,  each 
individual  who  will  comply  with  the  proposals,  is  noticed  of  God  and 
taken  into  the  number  of  his  family,  as  freely  and  safely  as  if  all  had 
complied,  and  none  have  any  right  or  power  over  him,  to  hold  him  back. 
For  "  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  :  but  in  every  nation  he  that  fear- 
eth  him,  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  of  him."  (Acts  x. 
34,  35.)  In  every  nation  or  neighbourhood  where  the  ministers  of  the 
perfect  Gospel  of  Christ  come,  whosoever  will  keep  treaty  with  them, 
as  the  ministers  of  heaven,  confessing  and  forsaking  their  sins,  shall  find 
mercy,  and  experience  the  pardon  of  their  sins  and  established  peace 
with  heaven,  without  the  labour  of  sending  their  treaty  to  London,  or  to 
the  Federal  City,  or  up  to  heaven  to  have  it  ratified. 

The  Gospel  brings  salvation  to  the  sinner's  door,  puts  it  into  his 
mouth  and  his  heart,  and  calls  him  to  keep  it  and  use  it.  "  But 
the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith  speaketh  on  this  wise.  Say  not 
in  thine  heart,  [do  not  even  think,]  Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven  .'' 
(that  is,  to  bring  Christ  down  from  above  ;)  or  Who  shall  descend 
into  the  deep  f  (that  is,  to  bring  up  Christ  again  from  the  dead:) 
But  what  saith  it  ?  The  word  is  nigh  thee,  even  in  thy  mouth,  and 
in  thy  heart  ;  that  is,  the  word  of  faith  which  we  preach."  (Rom.  x. 
6,  7,  8.)  And  again,  as  stated  above  :  "  Now  then  we  are  ambassa- 
dors for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us  ;  we  pray  you 
[and  others]  in  Christ's  stead:  be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  We  are 
ambassadors  for  Christ,  in  Christ's  behalf,  or  in  Christ's  stead,  it 
being  the  same  Greek  phrase  which  is  so  rendered  in  an  after  clause 
of  the  verse.  Christ  Jesus  is  the  first  true  ambassador  of  God  to 
men,  and  next,  his  true  apostles  and  ministers  are  God's  ambassadors 
in  Christ's  stead,  to  do  his  work,  according  to  God's  established  or- 
der :  to  these  he  has  committed  the  word  and  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation. Other  arguments  might  be  introduced,  and  other  objections 
raised  and  answered  ;  but  the  foregoing  will  satisfy  the  honest,  who 
weigh  matters  candidly,  and  are  wUling  to  obey  the  truth  when  they 
know  it. 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  235 

CHAPTER    III. 

EVIDENCES  RELATING  TO  THE  CHORCH  OF  CHRIST,  MAINLY  NEGATIVE. 

The  two  former  chapters  show  the  order  and  power  of  the  true 
Church,  with  respect  to  the  confession  of  sins.  A  question  may  arise ; 
How  are  we  to  know  who  are  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  and  where 
shall  we  find  them  ?  So  many  divisions  of  professors  claim  a  relation 
to  Christ  that  something  clear  and  definite  is  necessary,  satisfactorily 
to  show  with  whom  to  cast  our  lots. 

Such  clear  and  definite  knowledge  is  indispensably  necessary  ;  be- 
cause out  of  that  body  salvation  is  unknown,  and  wherever  it  is  there 
is  salvation.     As  it  is  written:  "  I  will  place  salvation  in  Zion  for  Israel 
my  glory."     (Isa.  xlvi.   13.)     To  the  same  effect  are  the  words  of 
Christ :  "  Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  hea- 
ven ;  and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  hea- 
ven."    And  again :  "Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted 
to  them,  and  whosesoever  ye  retain  they  are  retained."     (Matt,  xviii. 
18  ;  Jno.  XX.  23.)     So   that  what  the  Church  do  in  relation  to  the 
forgiveness  of  sins,  is  by  Christ  counted  valid,  to  all  intents.     That 
none  can  be  saved  in  a  disunited  state,  or  separate  from  the  only  true 
Church,  is  farther  evident,  because  there  is  but  one  Christ,  and  one  way. 
"  I  am  the  way,^'^  said  he :  and  there  is  not  another.     As  under  the 
law  of  Moses,  which  was  a  pattern  of  the  Gospel,  there  wa^  one  high 
priest,  and  also  one  law  and  one  way  for  all.     Thus  it  is  written : 
"  One  law  shall  be  to  him  that  is  home-born,  and  to  the  stranger 
that  sojourneth  among  you."     (Exod.  xii.  49.)     So,  under  the  Gos- 
pel, there  is   one   body  and  one   Spirit,  one  faith,  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  one  High  Priest,  one  faith  and    one  way,  for  the  Jew  and 
Gentile,  the  professor  and  non-professor,  whosoever  will  eat  of  the 
bread  of  life.     And  disunited  from  the  one  body  and  one  faith,  no  man 
can  keep  the  faith  of  Christ.     For  in  the  first  place  :  He  cannot  have 
a  sufficient  motive.     Every  man  is  influenced  by  motive  ;  no  man, 
therefore,  can  perform  any  great  work,  or  effectuate  any  arduous  and 
important  purpose,  without  an  adequate  motive.     But  no  man's  mo- 
tive can  exceed  his  faith  :  By  faith  we  stand.     And  no  faith,  in  whole, 
or  in  part,  separate  from  the  one  faith  of  the  one  body,  the  Church, 
can  furnish  and  maintain  sufficient  motive  to  overcome  all  sin,-  root 
and  branch,  because  as  long  as  any  one  has  any  hope  or  expectation 
that  salvation  can  possibly  be  found  without  the  full  cross,  his  faith  is 
inadequate.     In  connection,  therefore,  with  the  various  denominations 
of  professors,  whose  faith  is  so  indefinite  and  precarious,  no  man  can 
keep  the  faith  of  Christ,  or  walk  in  him.     And  again  :  No  man  can 
stand  alone.     Not  only  the  strength,  but  the  life  of  the  body  and  of 
each  member,  depends  on  union  ;  and  without  it  all  is  lost.     No  one 
member  can  live  disconnected  with  the  body.     So  is  Christ,  and  so  is 
the  Gospel  Church.     "  For  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  mem- 
bers, and  all  the  members  of  that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one 


236  NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES. 

body ;  so  also  is  Clirist.  For  by  one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one 
body  ;  whether  we  be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  we  be  bond  or  free  5 
and  have  been  made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit.  For  the  body  is  not 
one  member,  bnt  many."  (1  Cor.  xii.  12, 13,  14.)  Could  any  man, 
therefore,  have  the  true  faith  of  Christ,  mentally,  while  separate  from 
the  body,  he  could  not  keep  it  practically,  he  could  not  have  it  in  the 
truth  and  the  substance^  for  the  want  of  union :  he  could  not  be  saved. 
And  take  away  the  visible  union  of  the  member  with  the  body,  and 
the  member  must  perish  ;  for  there  can  be  no  invisible  union  extant,  so 
as  to  support  life,  without  a  visible.  The  knowledge,  therefore,  of 
the  true  Church,  and  an  open  profession  of  the  one  faith,  are  indispen- 
sable in  attaining  to  final  salvation,  and  full  redemption. 

To  those,  therefore,  who  inquire  as  stated  above,  if  candid  and 
intelligent,  a  reply  to  the  following  purport  will  be  satisfactory:  That 
nothing  more  is  necessary  to  distinguish  the  true  Church,  than  to  un- 
derstand the  order  of  the  Church  and  to  see  the  people  who  keep  it. 
For  as  the  order  of  the  true  Church  is  that  which  no  other  people 
can  keep,  (as  will  be  shown  hereafter,)  among  whomsoever  that  is 
seen,  it  will  sufficiently  evince  that  these  are  the  true  body  of  Christ. 
A  sufficient  evidence,  therefore,  to  any  one  honestly  in  quest  of  sal- 
vation, is  for  a  people  to  be  able  to  tell  what  are  the  true  order  and 
power  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  to  keep  that  order  and  power 
themselves,  as  far  as  can  be  discerned :  for  where  these  things  do 
not  exist  in  reality,  the  disguise  can  be  detected  ;  as  will  appear  in 
the  sequel.  It  is,  therefore,  an  invincible  truth,  that  no  man  who 
knows  the  true  character  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  will  remain  at 
any  loss  where  to  find  it.  But  it  is  also  true  that  it  is  easier  to  get 
satisfactory  information  than  to  submit  to  it,  when  offered;  "  Because 
the  carnal  mind  is  enmitj'-  against  God  ;  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."     (Rom.  viii.  7.) 

But  considering  the  great  importance  of  being  able  to  discriminate 
between  the  Antichristian  and  the  Christian  Church  we  will  state  the 
evidence  or  character  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the  following 
propositions,  that  the  honest  man  may  be  informed,  and  occasion 
cut  off  from  those  who  desire  occasion.  Not  that  we  expect  what  is 
here  stated  to  be  cordially  received  by  all,  or  by  a  majority ;  the  tes- 
timony of  Christ  has  always  been  opposed,  and  we  look  for  it  to  be  so 
still ;  there  are  yet  those  who  stumble  at  the  word  being  disobedient, 
and  the  way  of  life  is  narrow  as  well  as  heretofore  :  but  truth  must 
prevail  in  the  end. 

The  first  general  proposition  is  this  :  Wherever  the  Church  of 
Christ  exists,  it  is  accompanied  with  such  discriminating  character- 
istics as  are  sufficient  satisfactorily  to  distinguish  between  those  of 
whom  it  consists,  and  all  other  people  or  professions  on  the  earth. 
Now,  unless  this  be  true,  all  the  marks  of  the  true  Church,  given  by 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  fall  to  the  ground  ;  but  God  does 
aothing  in  vain,  and  his  word  shall  not  return  empty,  but  shall  pros- 
per in  the  thing  whereto  he  sent  it.  But  if  the  body  of  Christ  cannot 
be  known  with  certainty,  all  men  are  left  in  uncertainty  whether  they 
are  united  to  it  or  not,  and  therefore  whether  they  are  in  the  way  of 
life  or  death ;  consequently  every  man  is  at  full  liberty  to  make  his 
own  choice  his  rule,  and  no  one  has  any  authority  to  dispute  his  being 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  237 

in  the  path  of  life,  be  his  practice  almost  what  it  may  ;  for  scarcely 
any  iniquity  is  too  great  to  be  patronized  by  some,  as  being  within  the 
limits  of  a  Christian's  blunders,  though  not  comprehended  in  the  line 
of  his  duty.  One  may,  indeed,  scruple  the  standing  of  such  a  one, 
saying.  It  is  my  opinion  thou  art  not  in  Christ ;  or  if  he  should  say,  I 
know  thou  art  not,  what  of  it  ?  The  self-determined  professor  has 
as  good  a  right  to  his  opinion  as  the  opinionative  accuser.  Thus  all 
restraint  on  sin,  produced  by  the  fear  of  coming  short  of  salvation,  is 
removed,  and  yet  that  is  the  highest  restraint  of  which  the  unregen- 
erate  are  susceptible. 

Nothing  can  be  effected  to  correct  and  undeceive  the  erroneous, 
unless  an  appeal  can  be  made  to  an  intelligible  line  of  demarkation. 
In  vain,  therefore,  is  an  appeal  to  revelation,  unless  it  exhibits  such 
a  line,  and  if  it  does  the  argument  is  closed ;  it  can  be  known  who 
are  united  to  the  body  of  Christ,  and  who  are  not.  Thus,  by  an  ap- 
peal to  Scripture,  it  is  evident  that  the  Church  is  known,  and  cannot 
be  unknown,  according  to  the  language  of  Christ  to  his  disciples, 
whom  he  was  then  training  up  as  the  first  members  of  his  body  ; 
"  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  icorld.  A  city  that  is  set  on  a  hill  cannot  be 
hid.''     (Matt.  v.  14.) 

But  this  truth  will  be  farther  illustrated  and  confirmed  while  we 
consider  the  second  general  proposition :  That  whereas  the  true 
Church  can  be  certainly  known,  the  next  subject  to  be  considered  is, 
What  are  those  discriminating  characteristics  by  which  that  body  can 
be  distinguished  from  all  others.     And  here  let  it  be  considered. 

That  it  is  not  known  by  local  situation.  The  body  of  Christ  is  not 
limited  to  any  part  of  the  earth,  as  the  Jews  were  under  the  law  of 
Moses  ;  As  said  Jesus,  "  The  hour  cometh,  when  ye  shall  neither  in 
this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father — But  the 
hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship 
the  Father  in  Spirit  and  in  truth  ;  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to 
worship  him."  "  For,  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in 
my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  (Jno.  iv.  21,23; 
Matt,  xviii.  20.)  From  this,  however,  it  is  evident,  that  wherever 
the  body  of  Christ  is,  its  members  are  all  gathered  into  one,  as  will 
be  farther  shown  in  its  place. 

The  body  of  Christ  does  not  depend  on  any  name  which  its  mem- 
bers may  bear,  or  by  which  they  may  be  called ;  for  many  have  a 
name  to  live  and  are  dead  ;  and  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  ene- 
mies of  the  cross  to  fix  terms  of  reproach  on  those  who  live  nearest 
to  God — They  shall  revile  yoii,  and  shall  cast  out  your  name  as  evil. 

In  describing  the  body  of  Christ,  we  would  not  be  understood  as 
rejecting  any  real  light  from  God,  which  any  people  may  have  re- 
ceived, because  it  has  been  at  first  short  of  full  measure,  but  as 
acknowledging  every  degree  of  the  light  and  power  of  God  to  its  full 
extent.  But,  at  the  same  time,  we  cannot  consider  any  measure  of 
light  and  power  sufficient  to  characterize  the  Church,  which  comes 
short  of  that  character  which  Christ  has  given.  It  is  not  by  any  means 
intended  to  cramp  or  restrain  the  spirits  of  men  from  improving  every 
degree  of  light  to  the  best  advantage,  to  increase  in  the  knowledge 
of  God  and  the  true  Christian  life,  but  we  are  perfectly  willing  to 
own   the   work   of  God  wherever  it  appears,  and  to  acknowledge 


238  NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES. 

the  members  of  Christ  wherever  they  are  found,  and  under  whatever 
name,  provided  they  are  furnished  with  that  evidence  which  is  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  constitute  their  real  character.  The  object  of 
our  labour  is  not  to  create  parties  and  divisions  in  the  body  of  Christ, 
but  to  be  in  the  number  of  his  real  followers,  and  to  use  our  faithful 
endeavours,  as  far  as  our  knowledge  and  duty  extend,  that  others  also 
may  partake  of  the  same  blessedness.  But  it  cannot  be  nncharita- 
ble  to  require,  in  every  man,  the  genuine  evidences  of  Christianity 
before  he  be  encouraged  to  consider  himself  one  of  the  body  ;  for 
evidently,  it  can  do  no  man  any  good  to  be  seated  in  the  guest-cham- 
ber without  the  wedding-garment,  much  less  can  it  avail  to  any  good 
effect,  to  betray  mankind  with  the  notion  of  having  already  obtained 
it,  until  the  time  is  past ;  but  in  these  cases  it  is  by  all  means  best,  to 
honestly  point  out  the  way,  as  opportunity  may  serve,  faithfully  main- 
taining what  is  the  real  character  of  the  Christian,  and  what  the  genu- 
ine marks  of  the  body  of  Christ,  and  leave  all  men  under  the  most 
forcible  impression  possible,  as  to  these  points — who  are  the  body  of 
Christy  what  the  true  marks,  and  not  to  stop  short  of  an  inheritance 
with  them  :  for,  that  these  are  attainable  and  free  to  all,  is  just  as 
certain  as  that  they  exist.  Whosoever  will  let  him  take  the  water  of 
life  freely. 

The  power  and  existence  of  miracles  are  frequently  pleaded  as 
forming  a  prominent  part  of  the  character  of  the  true  Church,  and 
particularly  in  these  days  when  men  are  awakened  up  by  the  report 
of  a  new  and  last  dispensation  ;  and  so  far  is  this  particular  urged  by 
some,  that  they  appear  to  overlook,  with  neglect  and  even  contempt, 
every  other  part,  even  those  which  the  Scriptures  state  as  superior, 
and  in  which  the  main  force  of  evidence  consists,  according  to  the 
inspired  writers  :  like  the  Jews  who  paid  tithe  of  mint,  anise  and  cum- 
min, and  neglected  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy 
and  faith. 

The  power  of  miracles  no  doubt  belongs  to  the  Church,  and  we 
have  no  idea  of  any  true  Church  of  God  without  such  power.  But 
before  we  proceed  farther,  it  will  be  proper  to  consider  the  nature  of 
a  miracle,  in  a  few  particulars.  First :  A  miracle  is  something  out  of 
the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  and  which  must  necessarily  proceed 
from  superior  agency.  Hence  the  term  miracle  ;  something  won- 
derful, or  calculated  to  excite  wonder.  Secondly  :  As  miracles  are 
not  ordinary  or  natural  events,  but  extraordinary,  it  follows  that  they 
cannot  be  the  product  of  any  ordinary  and  established  medium,  for 
that  would  destroy  their  nature,  and  they  would  become  common 
occurrences.  This  however  relates  especially  to  the  subjects  in 
whom  the  miraculous  power  appears,  and  also  those  events  com- 
monly included  in  the  term  miracle,  and  is  by  no  means  intended  to 
deny  the  abiding  power  of  miracle  in  God,  who  ministers  it  when 
expedient,  according  to  his  own  wisdom.  The  true  source  of  mira- 
cles then  is  the  power  of  God,  and  they  are  to  be  considered  as  the 
effect  of  the  present  agency  of  that  power.  Thirdly  :  It  cannot 
therefore  be  denied  that  miracles  are  wholly  at  the  disposal  of  God, 
who  is  the  most  competent  judge,  when  they  are  necessary  and  when 
not.  Fourthly  :  One  thing  more  cannot  be  denied,  that  miracles 
are  at  God's  disposal  also,  with  respect  to  the  kind  and  form  of 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  239 

them,  in  what  order  and  with  what  appearance  it  may  be  most  expe- 
dient to  minister  them.  Accordingly,  the  attentive  reader  may  readily 
discover,  that  in  the  dispensation  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  miracles 
were  greatly  changed,  in  these  respects,  from  what  they  were  in  the 
days  of  Moses. 

This  change  in  dispensing  miracles  may  be  considered  necessary 
for  three  reasons.  First :  That  their  proper  effects  might  not  be 
destroyed  by  the  commonness  of  them,  and  at  the  same  time,  the 
necessity  of  carrying  them  to  an  improper  length  be  prevented. 
Secondly  :  Because  when  impostors  understand  that  certain  miracles 
have  been  wrought  by  the  true  ministers  of  God,  they  will  endeavour 
to  imitate  them,  as  did  the  magicians  in  Egypt.  And  though  they  may 
in  many  respects  be  outdone  and  overcome,  as  those  were  finally,  and 
as  the  sons  of  Scheva,  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  yet  such  is  the 
thirst  of  many  for  miracles,  that  fraiids  might  in  many  cases  be  prac- 
tised :  "  For  false  Christs  and  false  prophets  shall  arise,  and  shall 
show  signs  and  wonders,  to  seduce,  if  possible,  even  the  elect." 
"  For  such  are  false  apostles,  deceitful  workers,  transforming  them- 
selves into  the  apostles  of  Christ.  And  no  marvel ;  for  Satan  himself 
is  transformed  into  an  angel  of  light.  Therefore  it  is  no  great  thing, 
if  his  ministers  also  be  transformed  as  the  ministers  of  righteousness  ; 
whose  end  shall  be  according  to  their  works."  (Mark,  xiii.  22  ;  2 
Cor.  xi.  13,  14,  15.) 

Now  in  what  respect  were  these  deceitful  workers  transformed  into 
the  apostles  of  Christ  and  ministers  of  righteousness  ?  Not  by  teach- 
ing and  doing  righteousness  after  the  example  of  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles, for  that  would  have  constituted  them  true  ministers  of  Christ ; 
and  to  say  they  taught  and  did  righteousness  as  the  true  apostles,  is 
to  say  that  a  corrupt  fountain  can  bring  forth  a  pure  stream,  and  an 
evil  tree  good  fruit,  contrary  to  the  rule  of  Christ.  Besides,  their  end 
was  to  be  according  to  their  works  ;  if  therefore  their  works  were 
good,  their  end  must  be  good  also,  contrary  to  evidence.  But  the 
matter  is  plain  enough,  that  those  deceitful  workers  presumed  to  vie 
with  the  true  apostles  or  even  to  surpass  them,  in  a  fair  and  ostenta- 
tious appearance  of  piety  and  power,  while  they  artfully  taught  things 
contrary  to  the  Gospel,  corrupting  the  minds  of  the  hearers  from  the 
simplicity  which  is  in  Christ. 

Thirdly :  Another  necessity  of  this  change  is  to  check  the  pride 
and  vain-glory  of  mankind,  who  are  prone  to  turn  the  grace  of  God 
into  wantonness,  and  serve  the  purposes  of  a  fleshly  mind,  by  the 
knowledge  which  they  obtain  of  the  work  of  God,  by  disappointing 
them  in  their  views,  and  carrying  on  his  work  in  a  manner  unknown 
to  them,  that  all  may  be  taught  to  wait  on  God,  and  receive  of  him 
in  the  present  tense,  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence,  and 
that  he  may  lead  his  people  in  a  way  which  they  knew  not :  Vain 
man  would  be  wise. 

Another  fact  relating  to  what  are  commonly  called  miracles,  is, 
that  whatever  purpose  they  may  answer  in  their  own  place,  they  are 
not  saving.  Salvation  is  not  necessarily  connected  with  them  ;  they 
save  no  souls,  and  are  not  a  proof  to  any  man,  that  those  who  perform 
them  have  the  power  of  salvation,  for  persons  may  have  them  and 
not  know  Christ  or  be  known  of  him.     "  Many  will  say  to  me  in 


240  NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES. 

that  clay,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name  ?  and  in 
thy  name  have  cast  out  devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful 
works  ?  And  then  will  I  profess  to  them,  I  never  knew  you  :  depart 
from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity."  (Matt.  vii.  22,  23.)  "  Though  I 
speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  and  have  not  charity, 
I  am  become  as  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal.  And  though 
I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy ^  and  understand  all  mysteries^  and  all 
knowledge^  and  though  1  have  all  faith,  so  that  1  could  remove  moun- 
tains, and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing.  And  though  I  bestow 
all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though  I  give  my  body  to  be 
burned,  and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me  nothing."  (1  Cor.  xiii. 
1,  2,  3.)  Thus  every  thing  is  set  aside  in  making  proof  of  the  Chris- 
tian, but  that  which  cannot  be  imitated  or  forged — charity ;  of  which 
hereafter. 

It  is,  therefore,  utterly  improper,  in  searching  for  the  Church  of 
God,  to  give  these  a  first  or  main  place  in  its  character  ;  and  espe- 
cially when  it  is  farther  considered  that  if  found,  they  can  prove  no- 
thing to  the  point  unless  accompanied  by  such  evidence  as  confirms 
the  matter  without  them  ;  so  that  were  the  greatest  possible  external 
and  visible  miracles  discovered  amongst  any  people  called  Christians, 
these  would  not  prove  them  to  belong  to  the  body  of  Christ,  until 
confirmed  by  those  testimonies  which  cannot  accompany  any  other 
people.  Thus  it  is  written  of  the  prophets  of  old:  "The  prophet 
who  prophesieth  of  peace,  when  the  word  of  the  prophet  shall  come 
to  pass,  then  shall  the  prophet  be  known,  that  the  Lord  hath  truly 
sent  him."  (Jer.  xxviii.  9.)  But  this  could  only  be  admitted  in  case 
of  promoting  the  worship  of  the  true  God  which  had  been  taught 
before,  for  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  written  :  "  If  there  arise  among 
you  a  prophet,  or  a  dreamer  of  dreams,  and  giveth  thee  a  sign  or  a 
wonder,  and  the  sign  or  the  wonder  come  to  pass,  whereof  he  spake 
unto  thee,  saying,  Let  us  go  after  other  gods  which  thou  hast  not 
known,  and  serve  them  ;  thou  shalt  not  hearken  to  the  words  of  that 
prophet  or  that  dreamer  of  dreams  ;  for  the  Lord  your  God  proveth 
you  to  know  whether  ye  love  the  Lord  your  God  with  all  your  heart 
and  with  all  your  soul."  (Deut.  xiii.  1,  2,  3.)  Thus  we  see  that 
signs  and  wonders  were  no  proofs  of  a  true  prophet,  even  in  that  dark 
day  when  they  were  so  common  and  so  necessary  in  the  true  prophet, 
unless  corroborated  by  the  end  to  be  promoted  by  them.  Obedience 
is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  love  is  more  than  to  prophesy,  or  to 
do  miracles.  In  like  manner,  the  false  apostles  mentioned  above 
were  known,  at  least  in  part,  by  their  wicked  doctrine  and  works, 
corrupting  the  minds  of  the  people  from  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel, 
and  preaching,  in  efi'ect,  another  Christ,  whom  Paul  had  not  preached." 
(2  Cor.  xi.  3,  4.) 

Those  miracles,  therefore,  which  are  commonly  understood  by  the 
term,  however  necessary  they  have  been,  in  their  proper  place,  or 
may  yet  be  on  certain  occasions,  serve  but  an  inferior  part  in  the  great 
work  of  salvation,  or  in  characterizing  the  Church.  And  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  God,  the  wise  dispenser  of  his  grace,  should  dis- 
continue them,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  present  arrangement  of  things, 
and  introduce  in  their  room  that  which  is  spiritual,  pure,  and  heaven- 
ly— the  substance  instead  of  the  outward  sign  ;  especially  considering 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  241 

that  tlie  work  of  God  increases  in  the  ministration  of  light  and  power, 
becoming  more  spiritual  in  each  additional  dispensation  ;  so  that  men 
who  fear  God,  are  capable  of  seeing  his  work,  and  understanding  its 
nature  and  evidence  to  their  satisfaction,  without  those  jfigurative 
representations,  calculated  to  arrest  the  physical  man,  which  were 
necessary  in  former  dispensations  ;  having  in  addition  to  the  weight 
of  evidence  attending  those  dispensations,  transmitted  to  us  by  the 
Scriptures  and  already  prepossessed  by  all  professed  Christians,  the 
increasing  light  of  the  present  day. 

And  it  is  here  to  be  especially  noticed,  that  introducing  a  new  dis- 
pensation of  the  Gospel  and  testifying  it  to  the  world,  are  very  different 
matters  from  emerging  out  of  the  dispensation  of  Moses  and  the  pro- 
phets, and  planting  and  establishing  that  of  Christ ;  for  as  the  founda- 
tion-stone had  not  been  laid,  salvation  had  not  appeared,  or  Christ 
been  made  known,  all  that  had  been  in  possession  before,  stood  in 
meats  and  drinks  and  divers  washings  and  carnal  ordinances,  which 
served  for  the  time  then  present,  as  shadowy  representations  of  a  ^b- 
stance  to  come,  there  was  a  necessity  of  overturning  the  whole  Jewish 
economy,  so  that,  as  it  is  written  :  "  The  priesthood  being  changed, 
[or  transposed,]  there  is  made  of  necessity  a  change  [or  transposition] 
also  in  the  law  ;"  but  in  the  present  case  there  is  a  transition  from 
the  corruption  and  darkness  introduced  by  the  man  of  sin,  in  the 
time  of  the  falling  away,  into  the  life  and  light  of  Christ  which  was 
revealed  in  the  beginning  ;  so  that  notwithstanding  there  is  a  difference 
in  order  and  economy,  in  several  particulars,  it  is  the  same  Gospel, 
as  much  as  a  renewed  portion  of  physic  out  of  the  same  mass,  with 
additional  quantity  and  more  perfect  instruction,  is  of  the  same  nature 
with  the  former  ;  the  same  Christ,  same  self-denial  and  same  cross, 
insomuch  that  whosoever  honestly  apprehends  and  embraces  the  faith 
and  life  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  other  real  followers,  in  the 
first  dispensation,  will  be  in  no  wise  difficulted  to  embrace  the  present : 
the  same  demand,  therefore,  for  miracles  is  not  requisite  in  the  present 
dispensation  as  in  the  former,  because  all  the  miracles  which  were 
wrought  to  establish  that,  contribute  to  the  support  of  this  also. 

Farther  to  elucidate  this  subject,  let  it  be  remembered  that  to  do 
miracles  in  the  sight  of  men,  is  a  principal  characteristic  of  the  beast, 
or  Antichrist :  "  And  he  doeth  great  wonders,  so  that  he  maketh  fire 
come  down  from  heaven  on  the  earth  in  the  sight  of  men,  and  deceiveth 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  by  those  miracles  which  he  had  power 
to  do  in  the  sight  of  the  [first]  beast."  (Rev.  xiii.  13,  14.)  It  may 
be  objected,  that  this  is  figurative  language.  But  this  answer  is  at 
least  justifiable,  that  the  things  which  the  figure  most  resembles,  are 
most  likely  to  be  those  which  it  represented,  unless  good  evidence  is 
obtained  to  the  contrary  ;  and  it  is  more  than  justifiable,  even  forcible, 
to  argue,  that  no  good  reason  can  be  offered  for  reversing  the  figure, 
and  concluding  that  it  represents  the  body  of  Christ  doing  wonders 
in  the  sight  of  men  and  gaining  them  over  to  the  truth,  instead  of  the 
beast  deceiving  them.  The  strongest  evidence  therefore  is,  that  to 
do  miracles  in  the  sight  of  men  is  eminently  the  character  of  the 
beast.  And  to  this  agree  the  words  of  Christ,  which  are  not  so 
metaphorical :  "  For  there  shall  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets, 
and  shall  show  great  sii^-ns  and  wondei's,  insomuch  that,  if  possible, 
17 


242  NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES. 

they  shall  deceive  the  very  elect."  (Matt.  xxiv.  24.)  Thus  concur- 
ring testimonies  evince,  that  it  is  the  proper  character  of  the  beast, 
or  Antichrist,  to  show  great  signs  and  wonders,  or  to  work  miracles, 
in  the  sight  of  men.  And  this  is  the  character  which  the  world  try 
to  impose  on  the  Church  of  God  in  these  days,  and  then  reproach 
them  as  deceivers  and  impostors,  because  they  do  no  miracles  and 
show  no  signs. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  notice,  that  Jesus  or  his  disciples  never  wrought 
a  miracle  to  satisfy  the  inquiries  of  the  curious,  or  to  obviate  the 
cavils  of  adversaries.  "  A  wicked  and  adulterous  generation  seek- 
eth  a  sign  ;  and  there  shall  no  sign  be  given  to  it,  but  the  sign  of  the 
prophet  Jonas  ;"  the  sign  of  the  cross  which  they  do  not  desire. 
"  But  whereto  shall  I  liken  this  generation  ^ — For  John  came  neither 
eating  nor  drinking,  and  they  say,  he  hath  a  devil.  The  Son  of  man 
came  eating  and  drinking,  and  they  say.  Behold  a  man  gluttonous 
and  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners."  (Matt.  xvi.  4, 
an(Jxi.  16,  18,  19.)  The  same  generation  rejected  Christ,  demanding 
of  him  a  sign  from  heaven,  because  in  their  carnal  sense,  the  miracles 
which  he  wrought  were  not  equal  to  those  of  Moses,  or  more  truly, 
because  the  life  which  he  lived  and  the  doctrines  which  he  taught 
were  offensive  to  them  ;  as  they  said,  "  This  is  an  hard  saying  ;  who 
can  hear  it .?"  (Jno.  vi.  60.)  He  taught  the  destruction  of  the  flesh, 
and  the  promotion  and  upbuilding  of  the  spiritual  work  and  kingdom 
of  God.  And  for  the  same  reason  do  men  reject  the  testimony  of 
Christ  in  these  days,  because  it  is  offensive  to  their  nature,  being  for 
the  destruction  of  the  flesh  and  the  edification  of  the  spirit. 

Were  all  the  signs  given,  in  support  of  the  spiritual  work  of  Christj. 
which  the  men  of  this  generation  ask,  they  would  be  no  better  satis- 
fied, for  all  would  tend  to  promote  the  same  work  of  God  by  the  cross, 
and  they  would  still  resist,  as  was  abundantly  proved  by  the  first  min- 
isters of  the  present  testimony.  The  Jews  asked  signs,  but  when 
they  saw  them  they  were  not  relieved  ;  these  signs  did  not  alter  the 
nature  of  Christ's  work,  and  they  stubbornly  resisted,  saying,  "  What 
do  we  .''  for  this  man  doeth  many  miracles."  (Jno.  xi.  47.)  And 
when  the  apostles  had  done  so  notorious  a  miracle  on  the  lame  man 
that  they  could  say  nothing  against  it,  and  had  no  prospect  of  con- 
cealing it  by  denying,  they  endeavoured  to  crush  its  effects  by  vio- 
lence, for  they  hated  the  name,  work  and  cross  of  Christ,  as  much  as 
ever.  (Acts  iv.  13-17.)  In  vain  therefore  do  carnal  professors  call 
for  miracles,  for  the  nature  of  Christ  and  his  work  remain  the  same, 
and  ever  will :  but  wisdom  is  justified  of  all  her  children  :  honest 
souls  have  always  found  evidence  enough  in  the  work  of  Christ  ta 
satisfy  them. 

That  Jesus  and  his  apostles  wrought  miracles  in  confirmation  of 
their  doctrine  is  a  fact  not  to  be  denied,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  those  who,  in  many  cases,  were  eye-witnesses  of  the  facts  ;  but  it 
is  also  undeniable  that  the  use  of  them  gradually  subsided,  no  doubt, 
as  the  necessity  for  them  ceased,  and  their  use  was  superseded  by 
the  more  permanent,  substantial  and  genuine  fruits  and  evidences  of 
the  Gospel — charity,  union  and  good  works.  Accordingly  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  apostles'  ministry  there  is  much  less  said  about  work- 
ing miracles  than  in  the  beginning  :  not  denying  but  that  the  Church 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  243 

in  that  day  had  the  power  of  miracles  until  the  falling  away.  In  like 
manner,  the  first  ministers  and  witnesses  of  the  second  appearance 
of  Christ  wrought  miracles  in  the  gift  and  power  of  God,  in  confir- 
mation of  their  testimony,  as  it  is  attested  to  us  by  those  who  were 
in  many  cases  living  eye-witnesses  of  the  facts,  and  many  such  wit- 
nesses are  living  to  this  day.  But  these  things  have  greatly  subsided, 
the  use  of  them  being  superseded  by  the  gathering  together  of  the 
Church,  and  the  manifestation  of  those  fruits  and  evidences  which  are 
more  substantial,  genuine  and  abiding.  At  the  same  time,  every  ne- 
cessary gift  and  power  remain  in  and  with  the  Church  at  this  day,  and 
she  is  not  left  destitute  of  that  power  of  miracle  which  is  able  to  si- 
lence the  adversary  and  confirm  the  faithful. 


CHAPTER     IV. 

MORE  NEGATIVES.     THE  ABSENCE  OF  CHRIST.     CHRISTIANS  DO  NOT 

COMMIT  SIN. 

Great  contentions  and  animosities  have  subsisted,  for  ages,  among 
professed  Christians,  respecting  the  Church  of  Christ,  who  they  are, 
and  with  what  limits  circumscribed  ;  and  all  about  sentiments  and 
speculative  doctrines,  and  such  other  things  as  were  in  all  respects 
foreign  from  real  Christianity  ;  and  while  these  were  carried  on,  pro- 
fessors, like  the  Jews  who  would  strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel, 
have  missed  the  mark  altogether — an  humble  submission  and  obedi- 
ence to  the  example  and  precepts  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  which  it  could 
be  said,  and  in  which  alone.  To  me  to  live  is  Christy  and  to  die  is  gain. 
"  Now  the  end  of  the  commandment  is  charity,  out  of  a  pure  heart, 
and  a  good  conscience  and  faith  unfeigned  ;  from  which  some  having 
swerved  have  turned  aside  to  vain  jangling."  "  Ye  are  my  friends, 
if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you."   (1  Tim.  i.  5,  6  ;  Jno.  xv.  14.) 

While  men  have  been  saying,  Lo  here  !  and  lo  there  !  and  the  in- 
quiry has  been  made.  Who  of  them  all  are  the  true  Church '/  they  have 
overlooked  the  simple  and  plain  answer  of  Jesus  Christ — None  of  them. 
"  And  he  said  to  his  disciples,  The  days  will  come,  when  ye  shall  de- 
sire to  see  one  of  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  ye  shall  not  see  it, 
And  they  shall  say  to  you,  See  here,  or  see  there,  go  not  after  them, 
nor  follow  them."  "  Then  if  any  man  shall  say  to  you,  Lo  here  is 
Christ,  or  there,  believe  it  not."  (Luke  xvii.  22,  23  ;  Matt.  xxiv. 
23.)  These  things  prove  unequivocally  that  the  days  were  to  come, 
in  which  Christ  should  not  be  known  on  the  earth,  and  no  people 
were  to  be  followed,  or  believed — not  any  man,  because  no  man  in 
those  days  knew  the  truth  or  kept  it :  for  a  man  of  truth  is  to  be  be- 
lieved, and  the  true  followers  of  Christ  are  to  be  followed.  "  Breth- 
ren, be  followers  together  [Greek,  fellow  imitators]  of  me,  and  mark 
them  who  walk  so,  as  ye  have  us  for  an  example."  (Phil.  iii.  17.) 


244  NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES. 

Neither  did  Jesus  ever  say  anything  to  the  contrary  of  this,  but 
confirmed  it  :  "  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me."  But  such 
were  the  days  of  the  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  who  say,  Lo 
here  !  and  lo  there  !  And  the  very  nature  of  the  language  shows 
that  all  should  be  in  confusion  ;  no  one  knowing  what  was  the  truth, 
or  what  to  tell  another ;  none  knowing  where  to  find  Christ,  or  where 
to  direct  the  inquiring  soul.  This  total  falling  away  has  been  spoken 
of  by  the  prophets,  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  by  some  of  them 
as  having  already  begixn  in  their  days. 

To  discuss  this  subject  at  full  length  would  not  comport  with  the 
present  purpose.  A  few  observations,  however,  may  be  for  edification. 
As  a  man  can  receive  nothing  except  it  be  given  him  from  heaven,  so 
the  Church,  having  once  fallen  as  to  its  true  order,  purity  and  power, 
and  the  power  of  the  holy  people  having  been  scattered,  could  no  more 
be  restored  without  a  renewed  revelation  and  manifestationof  the  same 
power,  the  same  Christ  who  first  gave  them  birth.  And  this  agrees 
with  the  statement  of  the  Apostle,  when  speaking  of  the  man  of  sin, 
who  sat  in  the  temple  of  God,  there  to  remain  until  the  coming  of  the 
Lord,  that  is,  until  his  second  appearing,  for  this  was  wi'itten  after  the 
first.  Now,  this  mystery  of  iniquity,  or  man  of  sia,  was  to  sit  in  the 
temple  of  God — Christ,  therefore,  was  not  in  it. 

But  ?rhat  is  the  temple  of  God.^  Are  not  his  people  ?  As  it  is 
written:  "  Ye  are  the  temple  of  the  living  God;  as  God  hath  said,  I 
will  dwell  in  them  and  walk  in  them."  "  Know  ye  not  that  ye  are 
the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you.?"  (2 
Cor.  vi.  16,  and  1  Cor.  iii.  16.)  While,  therefore,  the  mystery  of  ini- 
quity sat  in  the  temple  of  God,  or  Church,  all  was  in  confusion,  the 
power  of  the  holy  people  was  scattered,  and  this  beast  made  war  with 
the  saints,  and  overcame  them,  as  the  Scripture  expressly  said  he  should. 
(Rev.  xiii.  7.)  Here  also  this  icickecl-was  to  sit,  making  and  continuing 
this  havoc,  until  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord,  and  the  day  of  our 
gathering  together  to  him,  as  the  Apostle  expressly  states,  speaking  of 
that  day,  that  it  should  not  come,  unless  there  came  a  falling  away  first, 
and  also  that  that  ivicked  should  be  revealed.  Then,  after  describing 
him,  and  telling  that  he  was  then  working,  he  also  states  the  time 
when  he  should  be  revealed,  consumed  and  destroyed — at  the  appear- 
ing of  the  Lord.  "  And  now  ye  know  what  withholdeth,  that  he  might 
be  revealed  in  his  time.  For  the  mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already 
work :  only  he  who  now  letteth  will  let,  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the 
way,  [or  let  him  who  detaineth  come  forth  out  of  the  midst,  or  be 
born  ;]  and  then  shall  that  wicked  [avo|/.og,  lawless]  be  revealed,  whom 
the  Lord  will  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  will  destroy 
with  the  brightness  of  his  appearing."  (2  Thes.  ii.  6-8.)  Thus  it  is 
stated  by  Christ  Jesus,  in  the  parable,  that  the  time  of  the  kingdom's 
being  made  clean  is  at  the  end  of  the  world,  which  can  be  none  else 
than  his  second  coming:  "  So  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  the  world.  The 
Son  of  Man  shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  his 
kingdom  all  things  that  offend,  and  them  that  do  iniquity."  (Matt.  xiii. 
40,41.) 

Notwithstanding,  the  Scriptures  speak  abundantly  of  a  kingdom  on 
the  earth  already  clean,  extending  itself  over  the  whole  earth,  and 
abiding   forever,   even   forever    and    ever.     Yet  this  pure  kingdom 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  245 

could  never  commence  until  tlie  coming  of  Christ,  the  second  time, 
as  already  stated,  which  statement  is  corroborated  by  another  saying 
of  the  Apostle  concerning  Christ:  "Who  shall  judge  the  quick  and 
the  dead  at  his  appearing,  and  his  kingdom."  (2  Tim.  iv.  1.)  Here, 
it  is  evident,  the  coming  and  kingdom  commence  together. 

For  the  Church,  after  being  once  scattered,  to  arise  again  to  its 
proper  purity,  order  and  power,  before  the  revelation  and  appearing 
of  Christ,  would  be  as  inconsistent  as  for  the  salt  which  hath  lost  its 
savour  to  become  good  without  the  restoration  of  the  saltness,  or  for  a 
dead  man  to  perform  the  functions  of  life  without  reanimation.  Ac- 
cordingly, it  has  been  found  by  experience,  that  all  the  laboured  at- 
tempts to  restore  the  Church  to  its  primitive  purity  and  order,  by 
gathering  up  the  scattered  fragments,  and  putting  away  destructive 
errors,  have  proved  abortive  ;  and  they  always  will,  to  all  people,  un- 
til they  find  the  renewed  revelation  of  Christ  from  heaven,  in  his  second 
appearing.  For,  when  any  remarkable  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  known,  it  comes  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  it  does  not  spring  forth 
out  of  any  or  all  the  established  professions,  or  churches,  as  the  law 
coming  forth  of  Zion,  or  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  tends  to  demolish,  rather  than  upbuild,  those  churches 
of  long  standing.  For,  not  unfrequently,  new  denominations  or  par- 
ties of  some  renewed  cast  spring  up  in  remarkably  great  revivals,  car- 
rying off  the  weight  and  spirit  of  the  work,  and  leaving  the  old  deno- 
minations in  barrenness,  and  in  a  short  time  those  who  keep  the 
revival  longest  are  barren  also,  so  that  nothing  of  the  kind  has  ever 
been  found  abiding.  These  things,  however,  only  serve  to  confirm  a 
painful  truth,  which  is  the  natural  inference  from  what  has  been  before 
stated ;  for  inasmuch  as  the  power  of  the  holy  people  has  been  once 
scattered,  the  daily  sacrifice  once  taken  away,  and  the  salt,  which  is 
the  Church,  has  once  lost  the  savour,  which  is  the  anointing,  no  Church 
can  have  the  anointing  or  Spirit,  who  is  Christ,  abiding  in  them,  until 
Christ  is  again  revealed  from  heaven  ;  therefore  all  those  churches 
who  claim  their  standing  as  being  in  an  uninterrupted  succession  from 
the  apostles,  are  nothing  but  Antichrist  and  false  prophets,  who  have 
lost  the  true  Christ  and  know  not  where  to  find  him  :  hence  they  say, 
Lo  here  !  and  lo  there  !  in  the  desert  and  in  the  secret  chamber. 
They  preach  and  pray  with  such  uncertainty  that  it  can  be  felt  by 
their  hearers  ;  and  though  they  presume  to  be  ministers  of  Christ,  and 
can  borrow,  or,  more  properly,  steal  the  words  of  his  true  ministers, 
not  one  amongst  the  thousands  of  them  can  tell  any  one  soul  who  in- 
quires. What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  the  way  to  find  Christ  and  sal- 
vation, so  as  to  prove  by  fact  that  he  is  a  minister  of  Christ  indeed  : 
this  truth  is  felt  by  themselves,  as  far  as  they  are  awake,  and  when 
weighed  in  the  balance,  they  are  found  wanting. 

That  Christ  is  absent  and  not  present  with  them  their  own  words 
and  works  declare  ;  for  they  are  continually  preaching  and  praying 
about  his  yet  coming  the  second  time.  The  same  is  farther  confirm- 
ed by  their  perpetual  fastings  before  eating  the  Lord's  supper,  and  at 
other  times — a  practice  expressly  predicated  to  be  observed  in  the 
absence  of  Christ.  It  is  not  the  habit  of  the  followers  of  Christ  to 
fast  while  he  is  present  with  them.  "  And  they  said  unto  him.  Why 
do  the  disciples  of  John  fast  often,  and  make  prayers,  and  likewise 


246  NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES. 

the  disciples  of  the  Pharisees  ;  but  thine  eat  and  drink  ?  And  he  said 
to  them,  Can  ye  make  the  children  of  the  bride-chamber  fast  while 
the  bridegroom  is  with  them  ?  But  the  days  will  come,  when  the 
bridegroom  shall  be  taken  away  from  them,  and  then  shall  they  fast  in 
those  days."  (Luke  v.  33,  34,  35.)  It  would  be  doing  violence 
to  these  sayings  of  Chist  to  limit  them  to  his  going  out  of  the  taber- 
nacle ;  for  until  after  he  had  ascended  and  sent  the  Comforter  they 
never  really  knew  him,  or  began  in  truth  to  rejoice  in  him  ;  with  great 
propriety  therefore  they  relate  to  that  period,  when  the  daily  sacri- 
fice was  taken  away,  and  the  power  and  presence  of  Christ  not  known 
— he  is  absent,  therefore  they  fast. 

Eating  the  Lord's  supper  also  proves  the  absence  of  Christ ;  "  For 
as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  forth  the 
Lord's  death  till  he  come,"  not  afterwards.   (1  Cor.  zi.  26.) 

An  objection  will  here  he  raised,  that  eating  the  Lord's  supper  and 
fasting  can  afford  no  argument  of  the  absence  of  Christ,  because  Jesus 
himself  instituted  the  supper,  and  it  was  practised  by  the  apostles  and 
primitive  Christians,  in  those  times  when  it  is  not  pretended  that  the 
apostacy  had  actually  commenced,  and  that  fasting  also  has  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  same  authority.  But  this  objection  is  sufficiently  obviated 
thus ;  That  Jesus  and  his  apostles  knew  and  foretold  the  apostacy 
which  actually  began  to  appear  before  the  close  of  the  apostles'  la- 
bours; and  as  it  was  necessary  that  some  animating  memorial  of  the  true 
Christ  and  his  Gospel  should  be  left  with  the  children,  or  friends  of 
the  Bridegroom,  during  his  absence,  to  encourage  them  in  the  pros- 
pect of  his  return,  and  be  a  warning  to  his  enemies,  nothing  could  be 
observed  with  so  good  grace  as  that  which  had  received  the  sanction 
of  his  own  hand  and  his  own  words,  "  Do  this  in  remembrance  of 
me."  And,  "  When  the  Bridegroom  shall  be  taken  away  from  them, 
then  shall  they  fast  in  those  days." 

No  allegation  of  insincerity  is  here  intended  against  those  whose 
real  faith  it  is  to  fast  or  to  eat  the  Lord's  supper  in  remembrance  of 
Christ,  aad  who  have  not  seen  any  farther  ;  it  is  perfectly  consistent 
with  the  faith  of  those  who  do  not  believe  that  he  has  come  the 
second  time,  and  it  is  by  no  means  unaccountable,  that  the  sincere  la- 
menters  of  degeneracy  should  keep  up  the  remembrance  of  former 
times  as  accurately  as  possible.  But  the  most  genuine  sincerity,  ad- 
mitting it  were  found  in  all  who  have  not  the  faith  of  Christ's  second 
appearance,  which  is  far  from  being  the  fact,  cannot  at  all  invalidate 
the  argument,  that  these  memorials  of  his  coming  prove  his  absence. 
Neither  can  it  avail  any  thing  for  them  to  plead  that  he  is  with  them 
in  Spirit ;  for  Christ  is  the  Spirit,  and  where  he  dwells  in  Spirit,  there 
he  dwells  in  reality.  The  disciples  knew  little  of  Christ  while  they 
could  see  his  body  of  flesh  and  bones,  but  when  that  was  out  of  the 
way  and  they  received  him  in  Spirit,  they  had  him  in  power,  and 
could  call  him  Lord  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  with  the  denominations 
in  these  days  he  is  not  present  in  Spirit,  as  their  own  words  and  works 
evince ;  because  their  most  spirited  cries  and  prayers  are  to  this  effect : 
That  he  would  come  and  take  up  his  abode  with  them  ;  by  which  it 
would  be  absurd  to  suppose  they  intended  any  other  coming  than  in 
the  Spirit. 

But  the  Church  and  ministers  of  Christ  are  not  so  5  they  run  not  as 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  247 

uncertainly;  they  know  Christ,  and  where  he  dwells,  and  can  say  with 
Jesus  himself,  and  with  Philip,  his  young  disciple  :  Come  and  see. 
Christ's  ministers  are  not  sent  without  tidings ;  they  can  direct  any 
honest  inquirer  to  Christ  and  salvation,  so  certainly  and  safely  that  none 
such  can  ever  fail. 

This  brings  us  again  to  the  point  in  hand  :  That  the  members  of 
Christ  are  known,  and  how  they  are  distinguished  from  all  others. 
And  as  the  Church  is  a  select  people,  and  a  collection  of  many  into 
one,  the  body  being  one  and  having  many  members,  and  all  these 
members  but  one  body,  we  shall  first  inquire  into  the  subject  as  it  re- 
spects each  one  individually.  The  people  of  God,  then,  are  known 
and  distinguished  by  the  fruits  which  they  bear. 

Here  it  will  be  expedient  to  clear  up  a  little  farther  a  difficulty 
which  may  possess  the  breast  of  some  who  are  honest  to  the  best  of 
their  understanding  ;  it  having  been  so  universally  taught,  that  real 
Christianity  is  so  great  a  secret,  that  no  one  can  certainly  be  known 
whether  he  is  a  Christian  or  not ;  yea,  farther  ;  it  is  even  taught  that 
none  certainly  know,  themselves,  whether  they  are  Christians  or  not. 
Some  lay  great  stress  on  these  words  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  "  The 
heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked ;  who  can 
know  it.'"  (xvii.  9.)  These  words  are  considered  as  an  unreserved 
description  of  the  character  of  all  men.  Christians  as  well  as  others. 
And  indeed  without  such  an  acceptation,  the  inference  drawn  from 
them,  that  Christians  cannot  be  known,  must  fall ;  for  it  will  readily 
be  granted  that  if  any  one  can  be  free  from  the  charge  of  a  deceitful 
heart,  it  must  be  one  who  is  a  Christian  indeed.  But  it  is  farther  to  be 
remembered,  that  the  prophet  in  that  paragraph,  of  which  these 
words  are  the  beginning,  spake  particularly  of  the  wicked  man  who 
gets  riches  not  by  right. 

It  is  also  to  be  considered  as  a  matter  of  great  consequence, 
though  little  understood  heretofore,  that  the  language  of  a  Jewish 
prophet,  respecting  the  people  in  his  day,  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  pro- 
per description  of  a  Christian.  What  the  law  says  it  says  to  them 
that  are  under  the  law,  but  that  by  no  means  makes  the  sayings  of 
the  law  a  rule  for  those  who  have  the  Gospel.  It  was  necessary  for 
them  to  speak  the  truth  according  to  the  day  in  which  they  lived ; 
it  is  therefore  no  wonder  if  they  often  complained  of  the  wickedness 
of  the  people  and  the  scarcity  of  the  truth  in  those  days  of  darkness, 
when  salvation  was  not  known  ;  when  all  they  had  in  possession  con- 
sisted in  carnal  ordinances,  weak  and  beggarly  elements ;  and  they 
were  encouraged  and  supported  mainly  by  the  promise  of  that  which 
was  afterwards  to  be  possessed.  Before  faith  came  they  were  kept 
under  the  law,  shut  up  to  the  faith  which  should  afterwards  be  reveal- 
ed; for  nothing  could  be  brought  forth  to  perfection  until  faith  came, 
and  that  could  not  be  until  the  author  of  it  came,  who  is  Christ ;  "  For 
the  law  made  nothing  perfect,  but  the  bringing  in  of  a  better  hope 
[doth,]  by  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God."   (See  note,  page  110.) 

The  Gospel  of  Christ,  therefore,  goes  on  a  very  different  footing  from 
the  law;  and  though  deceitfulness  never  could  be  acceptable  with  God, 
it  is  especially  reprehensible  where  the  light  of  Christ  has  appeared, 
so  that  all  those  who  harbour  it  are  entirely  excluded  from  Christ. 
Hence  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  in  the  parable  of  the  sower ;  none  could 


248  NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES. 

bring  forth  fruit,  but  tliose  wbo  received  the  word  in  an  honest  and 
good  heart.  And  it  is  a  fact,  to  be  received  with  the  utmost  certainty, 
that  none  but  the  honest  and  good,  who  keep  judgment  to  the  line  and 
righteousness  to  the  plummet,  will  ever  be  able  to  stand  before  him 
or  partake  with  him.  To  the  same  effect  is  the  saying  of  the  apostle 
John,  who  appeals  to  the  decision  of  the  heart  as  a  witness  to  give  con- 
fidence before  God ;  "  Beloved,  if  our  heart  condemn  us  not,  then 
have  we  confidence  towards  God."  (1  Jno.  iii.  21.) 

What  is  here  stated  in  a  few  words,  could  be  illustrated  to  much 
greater  fullness  in  a  suitable  place  ;  and  it  obviates  all  the  objections 
introduced  from  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  against  the  truth 
of  Christians  being  known,  and  also  living  without  sin.  And  we  con- 
clude that  no  reasonable  man  will  count  it  improper  in  us  to  reject  all 
arguments  to  that  effect,  drawn  from  that  quarter,  until  it  can  be 
proved  that  salvation  was  as  real,  not  to  say  as  full,  in  the  days  of  the 
prophets  as  after  the  coming  of  Christ,  that  is,  in  plain  terms,  that 
Christ  came  in  vain  and  died  in  vain.  "  For  if  righteousness  come 
by  the  law  Christ  hath  died  in  vain."  "  If  therefore  perfection  were 
by  the  Levitical  priesthood,  [for  under  it  the  people  received  the  law,] 
what  further  need  was  there  that  another  priest  should  arise  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedec,  and  not  be  called  after  the  order  of  Aaron  .^" 
(Gal.  ii.  21 ;  Heb.  vii.  11.) 

But  another  text  has  been  named,  to  prove  that  Christians  cannot 
be  known.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the 
sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it 
goeth  :  so  is  every  one  who  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  (Jno.  iii.  18.)  If 
it  be  argued  that  the  Spirit  is  here  compared  to  the  wind,  and  the 
operations  of  the  one  to  the  movings  of  the  other,  and  therefore  that, 
as  no  man  can  understand  accurately  the  moving  cause  and  secret 
windings  of  the  wind,  so  as  to  know  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it 
goeth,  so  neither  can  any  one  know  the  manner  of  the  Spirit's  work- 
ing, nor  the  Christian  who  is  the  subject  of  it :  so  is  every  one  who  is 
born  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  answered,  that  this  argument  is  foreed  and 
inconclusive  ;  for  let  it  be  granted  that  the  secret  method  of  the  Spirit's 
working  is  unknown,  it  no  more  proves  the  operations  of  the  Spirit 
and  the  subjects  of  those  operations  to  be  unknown,  than  the  secrets 
of  the  wind  being  unknown  proves  that  no  man  can  know  when  the 
wind  bloweth  or  where.  The  text  therefore  in  consideration  proves, 
anquestionably,  that  as  certainly  as  a  forest  or  grove  can  be  known 
to  have  the  wind  in  it,  by  hearing  the  sound  and  observing  other  ef- 
fects, just  so  certainly  can  the  subjects  of  the  Spirit's  operations  be 
known  :  so  is  every  one  who  is  born  of  the  Spirit. 

By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  And  however  the  operations 
of  the  Spirit  may  be  disputed  and  called  the  works  of  the  devil;  when 
men  see  the  operations  of  the  wind  by  its  effects,  (which  are  otherwise 
unknown,)  they  are  obliged  to  acknowledge  them  to  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  men,  and  are  from  the  most  rational  evidence  induced  to  at- 
tribute them  to  the  proper  cause,  because  there  is  no  other  power 
known  to  produce  such  ;  in  like  manner  when  the  effects  of  the  Spirit's 
operations  aj)pear,  every  man  is  by  the  most  rational  evidence  invited 
to  attribute  them  to  their  proper  source.  The  only  hindrances  to  this 
conclusion  are  found  mainly  in  the  adversaries  to  the  Gospel ;  as.  First ; 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  249 

An  unacquaintance  with  tlie  Spirit's  operations  througli  inattention, 
or  want  of  opportunity.  This  may  be  easily  removed  in  the  honest. 
Secondly ;  Unwillingness  to  yield  to  the  truth.  This  is  so  far  from 
being  a  justifiable  objection,  that  it  is  a  proper  foundation  for  guilt, 
and  also  a  strong  argument  in  favour  of  said  operations  being  of  God, 
because  ofPensive  to  the  carnal  mind.  But  I  would  not  anticipate  what 
is  to  come  in  another  place. 

The  Church  is  so  far  from  being  unknowable,  that  nothing  is 
more  expressly  and  clearly  testified  in  the  Scriptures  than  that  it  is 
known.  Christians  know  themselves  to  be  of  God  in  Christ,  by  the 
work  of  God  in  them  and  the  fruits  which  they  bring  forth.  "  Hereby 
know  we  that  we  dwell  in  him,  and  he  in  us,  because  he  hath  given  us 
of  his  Spirit."  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the  wit- 
ness in  himself."  "  And  hereby  we  do  know  that  we  know  him,  if  we 
keep  his  commandments.  He  that  saith  I  know  him,  and  keepeth  not 
his  commandments,  is  a  liar,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him.  But  whoso 
keepeth  his  word,  in  him  verily  is  the  love  of  God  perfected  :  hereby 
know  we  that  we  are  in  him."  "  My  little  children,  let  us  not  love  in 
word,  neither  in  tongue,  but  in  deed  [work]  and  in  truth.  And 
hereby  we  know  that  we  are  of  the  truth  ;  and  shall  assure  our  hearts 
before  him."   (1  Jno.  iv.  13,  and  v.  10,  and  ii.   3,  4,  5,  and  iii.  18, 

Christians  also  know  others,  and  are  able  to  distinguish  who  are  in 
Christ,  and  who  are  of  Antichrist,  by  their  being  of  the  same  faith  or 
not,  by  their  embracing  or  not  embracing  the  same  Spirit  and  work 
which  they  have  received.  Accordingly  the  apostle  John  speaking 
of  the  Antichrists  and  Christians,  distinguishes  thus  ;  "  They  are  of 
the  world,  therefore  speak  they  of  the  world,  and  the  world  heareth 
them.  We  are  of  God :  he  that  knoweth  God  heareth  us  ;  he  that 
is  not  of  God  heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know  we  the  Spirit  of  truth 
and  the  spirit  of  error."  (1  Epistle  iv.  5,  6.)  Thus  there  is  union  in 
all  the  work  of  God,  and  among  all  the  souls  who  serve  him  ;  no  mat- 
ter in  what  country  they  live,  or  by  whatever  reproachful  names  they 
may  be  called,  or  whatever  other  circumstances  may  attend  them.  If 
any  therefore  are  uncertain  who  are  members  of  Christ's  body  and 
who  not,  or  in  other  words,  who  are  the  true  Church,  it  proves  in 
the  first  place,  that  they  are  not  Christians. 

But  the  children  of  God  are  not  only  known  to  themselves  and  to 
one  another,  but  the  evidence  is  sufficiently  plain  to  those  about  them. 
Not  as  though  the  internal  and  spiritual  nature  of  the  work  can  be 
known  and  understood  by  the  mass  of  mankind,  or  any  one  in  the 
state  of  nature.  "  But  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness  to  him  ;  neither  can  he 
know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned.  But  he  that  is 
spiritual  judgeth  [or  discerneth]  all  things,  [or  every  one,]  yet  he 
himself  is  judged  [discerned]  of  no  man.",  (1  Cor.  ii.  14,  15.) 
But  the  fruits  which  appear  are  so  rational,  that  the  understanding  of 
natural  men  can  apprehend  them,  so  far  at  least,  as  to  be  sufficiently 
convinced  of  the  source  whence  they  come.  These  fruits  consist  in 
the  performance  of  their  duty  towards  God,  towards  one  another,  and 
towards  mankind :  and  in  the  performance  of  these  duties  they  can- 
not neglect  a  duty  to  themselves. 

1st.  The  first  description  of  the  Church  which  we  shall  here  state, 


250  NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES. 

by  wliicli  they  are  known,  is  their  doing  the  will  of  God.  "  Circum- 
cision is  nothing,  and  uncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  the  keeping  of 
the  commandments  of  God."  "  Not  every  one  who  saith  unto  me, 
Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  he  who  doeth 
the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  (1  Cor.  vii.  19  ;  Matt. 
vii.  21.)  This,  too,  is  the  language  of  Christ  Jesus  and  his  apostles, 
who  well  understood  the  nature  of  the  Gospel,  and  not  the  mistakes 
of  a  formalist  or  hypocrite.  But  as  Christ  Jesus  is  he  who  first  re- 
vealed the  Father,  and  all  Christians  own  him  as  the  head  of  the 
body,  receiving  all  their  knowledge  of  God,  and  paying  all  their  duty 
to  God,  in  obedience  to  him,  we  here  proceed  to  state  :     That, 

2d.  The  fruits  of  the  members  of  the  Church,  by  which  they  are 
known  and  distinguished  from  all  other  men,  are  found  in  keeping  the 
commandments  of  Christ  and  doing  his  will :  short  of  this,  in  vain  do 
any  pretend  to  be  members  of  Christ's  body.  "  Ye  are  my  friends  if 
ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you."  "  If  ye  keep  my  commandments 
ye  shall  abide  in  my  love,  even  as  I  have  kept  my  Father's  command- 
ments and  abide  in  his  love."  "  If  a  man  love  me  he  will  keep  my 
sayings."  "  Therefore,  whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and 
doeth  them,  I  will  liken  him  to  a  wise  man,  who  built  his  house  upon 
a  rock :  and  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds 
blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house  ;  and  it  fell  not :  for  it  was  founded 
upon  a  rock.  And  every  one  who  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and 
doeth  them  not,  shall  be  likened  to  a  foolish  man,  who  built  his  house 
upon  the  sand."  "  Blessed  are  they  who  do  his  commandments,  that 
they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in  through 
the  gates  into  the  city."  "He  that  saith,  I  know  him,  and  keep- 
eth  not  his  commandments,  is  a  liar,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him." 
(Jno.  XV.  14,  10,  and  xiv.  23;  Matt.  vii.  24,  25,26;  Rev.  xxii. 
14:  1  Jno.  ii.  4.) 

These  are  the  terms,  and  these  only,  which  Christ  proposes  to  any 
man  who  would  be  a  partaker  with  him ;  and  all  other  plans  or 
schemes,  however  specious  and  flattering,  are  nothing  but  the  works 
of  Antichrist,  contrivances  of  men  who  know  not  God,  or  Jesus 
Christ  whom  he  hath  sent ;  and,  therefore,  have  no  power  over  sin, 
yet  claim  a  share  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Thus  through  such  false 
apostles,  deceitful  workers,  it  has  been  so  universally  taught  that 
Christians  transgress  the  commandments  of  Christ  as  well  as  others, 
that  the  law  and  rule  of  Christ  are  made  void  by  tradition,  and  it  is 
esteemed  a  gross  heresy,  a  pernicious  enthusiastic  flight,  for  any  man 
to  teach  that  Christians  correctly  keep  the  commandments  of  Christ. 
This,  however,  was  not  esteemed  a  heresy  by  the  apostles,  who  wrote 
thus  :  "  For  though  we  walk  in  the  flesh,  we  do  not  war  after  the 
flesh  :  (for  the  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty 
through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds,)  casting  down  im- 
aginations [Greek,  reasonings]  and  every  high  thing  that  exalteth 
itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing  into  captivity 
every  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ."  (2  Cor.  x.  3,  4,  5.) 
How  difi"erent  is  the  language  of  those  who  maintain  that  they  and  all 
others  transgress  the  commandments  of  Christ  every  day,  by  thought, 
word  and  deed  !  Will  any  one  suppose  they  serve  one  and  the  same 
Lord .? 

3d.  But  no  man  who  commits  sin  can  keep  the  law  of  Christ,  as  he 


NEGATIVE    EVIDENCES.  251 

says,  "  Whosoever  committetli  sin  is  the  servant  of  sin."  Again,  it 
is  written :  "  Know  ye  not  that  to  whom  ye  yield  yourselves  servants 
to  obey,  his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye  obey,  whether  of  sin  unto 
death,  or  of  obedience  unto  righteousness?"  (Jno.  viii.  34;  Rom. 
vi.  16.)  This,  then,  is  the  unequivocal  distinction  between  the  mem- 
bers of  Christ's  body  and  the  rest  of  the  world  ;  "  In  this  the  children 
of  God  are  manifest  and  the  children  of  the  devil."  (1  Jno.  iii.  10.) 
Now,  that  which  is  manifest  is  no  longer  a  mystery,  no  longer  un- 
known. This  is  the  sweeping  rule  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  which 
puts  a  period,  eventually,  to  all  the  contentions  and  debates,  about 
who  is  a  Christian  and  who  is  not. 

All,  therefore,  which  is  required  of  any  man,  in  searching  for  the 
true  Church,  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  find  the  people  who  bear  a  bold 
and  living  testimony  against  all  sin,  and  confirm  the  same  by  their 
works :  and  he  is  fully  authorized  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  to  set 
aside  all  others,  whatever  zeal,  light,  or  power,  they  may  have,  as 
being  yet  short  of  the  mark.  We  would  not  be  understood  as  con- 
demning or  rejecting  any  society  of  professed  Christians,  on  account 
of  the  misconduct  or  iniquities  of  some  who  may  be  called  by  their 
name,  and  have  some  agreement  with  them  in  sentiment,  but  are  not 
living  in  union  with  the  body,  and  are  not  owned  by  them  as  honest 
subjects  of  their  faith  ;  neither  on  account  of  those  who  are  so  young 
in  their  faith,  as  not  to  have  had  time  to  gain  power  over  sin.  For 
the  disciples  were  subject  to  error  in  the  beginning  of  their  disciple- 
ship  ;  but  after  they  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  became  expe- 
rienced in  the  Gospel,  they  set  another  example,  and  taught  another 
doctrine.  The  work  of  regeneration  is  an  increasing  work  :  in  it  men 
cease  to  do  evil  and  learn  to  do  well. 

But  if  any  man,  in  quest  of  the  true  Church,  find  a  people  whose 
leading  characters,  or  those  members  who  have  professed  long  enough 
to  have  become  of  age,  yet  commit  sin,  he  must  violate  the  law  and 
rule  of  Christ,  if  he  consider  them  the  Church  of  God.  Or  if  he  find 
a  people  whose  acknowledged  faith  it  is,  that  no  man  can  live  and  not 
sin  ;  or  that  people  may  commit  sin,  and  be  Christians  notwithstand- 
ing ;  such  a  people  are  avowed  enemies  to  the  rule  of  Christ,  and,  in 
honour  to  him,  are  obliged  to  be  rejected  as  not  belonging  to  his  body. 
"  For  he  that  saith,  I  know  him,  and  keepeth  not  his  command- 
ments, is  a  liar,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him.  He  was  manifested  to 
take  away  our  sins  :  and  in  him  is  no  sin.  He  that  saith  he  abideth 
in  him,  ought  himself  also  so  to  walk,  even  as  he  walked."  (1  Jno. 
ii.  4,  6,  and  iii.  5.)  Or  if  a  people  be  found  who  cannot  show  a 
united  body  of  one  faith,  (for  in  the  Church  there  is  one  faith,)  who 
have  gained  power  over  all  sin  ;  and  if  they  do  not  reject  all  who 
have  not  gained  full  power  over  all  sin,  as  not  born  of  God,  but  at 
best,  even  if  of  their  own  faith,  as  no  more  than  learners,  such  people 
are  to  be  set  aside  as  not  being  the  body  of  Christ ;  for  the  true 
Church  are  the  temple  of  God,  and  that  temple  is  holy. 

Finally,  Whatever  work,  under  the  name  of  Christianity,  does  not, 
in  its  progress,  give  power  over  all  sin  and  the  darkness  which  leads 
to  it,  so  as  to  produce  a  people  who  are  saved  in  the  present  tense, 
falls  short  of  being  the  true  Gospel,  and  the  subjects  of  it  are  all  un- 
der the  power  and  government  of  Antichristian  darkness.     "  This, 


252  TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS. 

then,  is  the  message  which  we  have  heard  of  him,  and  declare  to  you, 
that  God  is  light  and  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all.  If  we  say  that  we 
have  fellowship  with  him,  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie  and  do  not 
the  truth.  But  if  we  walk  in  the  light  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have 
fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  (1  Jno.  i.  5,  6,  7.)  Not  will  cleanse  us 
when  we  die,  or  some  time  hereafter  ;  it  is  the  present  tense  ;  as  it  is 
written  again  :  "  How  shall  we  that  are  dead  to  sin  live  any  longer 
therein."  (Rom.  vi.  2.)  This,  then,  is  the  character  of  the  true 
Church  ;  they  have  fellowship  with  God,  fellowship  with  one  another, 
and  commit  no  sin.  "  In  this  the  children  of  God  are  manifest,  and 
the  children  of  the  devil ;  whosoever  doeth  not  righteousness  is  not 
of  God,  neither  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother."  But,  "  He  that 
doeth  righteousness  is  righteous,  even  as  he  [the  Son  of  God]  is 
righteous."  And,  "He  that  loveth  his  brother  abideth  in  the  light, 
and  there  is  none  occasion  of  stumbling  in  him."  (  1  Jno.  iii.  10,  7, 
and  ii.  10.) 


CHAPTER    V. 

SOME    OBJECTIONS    AGAINST    THE    SINLESS    LIFE    OF    A    CHRISTIAN 
ANSWERED,    AND    THE    POINT    CONFIRMED. 

The  thought  of  God's  having  a  people  on  earth,  in  whom  he  dwells 
as  his  holy  temple,  and  who  do  not  commit  sin,  is  so  far  out  of  the 
sight  and  remembrance  of  professors,  that  the  very  idea  will  appear 
to  many  of  them  romantic  ;  and  the  most  explicit  declarations  of 
Scripture  appear  to  have  lost  their  edge,  and  a  few  undefined  old 
phrases  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed,  partly  scriptural  and 
partly  not,  seem  sufficient,  in  their  view,  to  counterbalance  all  the 
testimony  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  Some  also,  who  possess  a 
respectable  degree  of  honesty  and  feeling,  may,  through  the  influence 
of  prepossession  and  the  deficiency  of  information,  be  not  altogether 
clear  in  their  judgment.  We  shall  therefore  take  notice  of  some  of 
the  most  plausible  objections. 

The  apostle  John  has  written  :  "  If  we  say  we  have  no  sin,  we 
deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us."  Hence  it  is  argued 
that  no  man  can  be  free  from  sin  ;  for  if  any  man  should  say,  I  have 
no  sin,  or  I  am  saved  from  all  sin  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  this  text,  say 
they,  would  prove  that  he  is  deceived,  and  the  truth  not  in  him  ;  for 
the  Apostle  said  lue.  If  loe  say  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselveSj  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  us  ;  and  surely,  if  any  man  could  become  free  from 
sin,  it  would  be  an  apostle,  and  if  any  amongst  them,  the  beloved 
disciple  John.  To  a  man  unacquainted  with  the  nature  of  language, 
this  is  a  considerably  specious  objection  :  I  have  therefore  stated  it 
in  as  strong  terms  as  I  could,  that  it  may  be  effectually  removed. 


TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS.  25 

The  Apostle  had  just  stated  the  condition  of  those  who  walk  in  the 
light,  as  he  (the  Son  of  God)  is  in  the  light,  that  the  blood  of  Christ 
cleanseth  them  from  all  sin.  But  he  well  knew  the  enmity  of  the 
Jews  and  others  against  Christ,  and  the  doctrine  of  his  blood  as  saving 
them,  as  well  as  their  pride  in  presuming  they  were  not  sinners,  and 
therefore  had  no  need  of  being  cleansed.  He  therefore  adds:  "If 
we  say  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in 
us."  If  we,  or  any  of  us,  or  any  man,  [let  it  go  to  the  full  extent,] 
should  say  we  have  no  sin,  and  therefore  have  no  need  of  Christ,  he 
deceives  himself.  That  this  is  the  purport  of  the  Apostle's  state- 
ment, is  sufficiently  plain,  if  we  attend  to  the  following  words  :  "If 
we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and 
to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness."  And  then  the  matter  is 
changed  from  the  present  to  the  past :  "  If  we  say  we  have  not  sinned, 
we  make  him  a  liar,  and  his  word  is  not  in  us."  But  no  more  talk  of 
being  deceived,  by  saying  we  have  no  sin,  after  the  confession,  for- 
giveness and  cleansing.  It  would  nevertheless  be  false  to  say  we  had 
not  sinned ;  for  one  who  is  saved  from  sin  ever  so  completely,  cannot 
say  but  that  he  has  sinned,  because  all  have  sinned.  The  Apostle, 
therefore,  by  saying,  in  such  a  connection,  "  If  we  say  we  have  no  sin, 
we  deceive  ourselves,"  no  more  proves  that  to  be  the  case  with 
Christians,  than  he  proves  that  if  a  man  is  once  a  sinner  he  must  so 
remain  :  but  Christ  is  manifested  to  take  away  our  sins.  Besides  ; 
to  understand  this  passage  as  proA^ng  that  Christians  commit  sin,  ex- 
cludes the  Apostle's  testimony  on  this  subject,  by  exposing  him  to  a 
contradiction;  because  he  has  boldly  asserted  that,  "Hethatcom- 
mitteth  sin  is  of  the  devil ;"  and  "  Whosoever  abideth  in  Him,  sinneth 
not."   (1  Jno.  iii.  8,  6.) 

As  to  his  saying  we,  it  is  no  more  than  a  familiar  mode  of  speaking 
common  to  the  apostles.  Thus  James,  speaking  of  the  tongue,  says  : 
"  Therewith  bless  we  God,  even  the  Father  ;  and  therewith  curse  wc 
men,  who  are  made  after  the  similitude  of  God.  Out  of  the  same 
mouth  proceedeth  blessing  and  cursing.  My  brethren,  these  things 
ought  not  so  to  be."  Likely  none  will  insist  that  the  apostle  James 
was  one  of  those  who  took  part  in  such  cursing,  and  yet  he  says  ive, 
in  as  pointed  terms  as  John. 

Another  portion  of  Scripture,  which  many  ply  with  great  confidence 
to  maintain  that  Christians  commit  sin,  or  live  in  it,  is  that  of  Paul, 
where  he  says :  "  For  we  know  that  the  law  is  spiritual ;  but  I  am 
carnal,  sold  under  sin,"  and  more  to  the  same  purport.  (Rom.  vii. 
14,  &c.)  This,  however,  is  a  disputed  text  among  the  denominations 
of  professors  ;  so  that  their  own  testimony  on  this  point  does  not 
agree. 

John  Wesley  and  his  followers  have  maintained  vigorously,  that 
the  Apostle  did  not  there  speak  of  himself,  nor  describe  the  Christian, 
but  the  convinced  sinner. 

Doctor  Philip  Doddridge,  notwithstanding  he  was  possessed  of  the 
common  error,  that  Christians  commit  sin,  though  unwillingly,  in  his 
notes  on  the  Scripture  under  consideration,  observes  that,  "  The 
Apostle  here,  by  a  very  dexteroiis  turn,  changes  the  person  and  speaks 
as  of  himself.  This  he  elsewhere  does,  when  he  is  only  personating 
another  character.     And  the  character  here  assumed  is  that  of  a  man 


254  TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS. 

first  ignorant  of  the  Jaw,  then  under  it,  and  sincerely  desiring  to  please 
God,  but  finding,  to  liis  sorrow,  the  weakness  of  the  motives  it  sug- 
gested, and  the  sad  discouragement  under  which  it  left  him  ;  and  last 
of  all,  ivith  transport  discovering  the  Gospel,  and  gaining  pardon  and 
strength,  peace  and  joy  by  it.  But  to  suppose  (continues  the  Doctor) 
he  speaks  all  these  things  of  himself,  as  the  confirmed  Christian  that 
he  really  was  when  he  wrote  this  epistle,  is  not  only  foreign,  but  con- 
trary to  the  whole  scope  of  his  discourse,  as  well  as  to  what  is  expressly 
asserted  in  chapter  viii.  2." 

Osterwald  says  :  "  This  is  a  chapter  which  ought  to  be  well  under- 
stood, and  which  must  not  be  misapplied.  For  this  purpose  it  must 
be  observed,  that  the  Apostle  represents  in  his  own  person,  in  a 
figurative  way  of  speaking  very  usual  with  him,  the  condition  of  a 
man  who  is  under  the  law,  and  who,  not  having  faith  and  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  is  a  slave  to  his  passions. "  Thus  this  Scripture  is  judiciously 
taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  abettors  of  the  doctrine  that  Christians 
are  not  free  from  sin,  by  men  of  their  own  faith. 

It  is  indeed  inconsistent,  that  any  one  of  understanding  should  build 
with  any  confidence  on  the  Apostle's  expressing  himself  after  that 
manner,  in  a  figure  so  common  to  him  as  well  as  others.  As  thus  : 
"  For  if  the  truth  of  God  hath  more  abounded  through  my  lie  to  his 
glory,  why  yet  am  I  also  judged  as  a  sinner  .''  And  not  rather,  (as 
we  are  slanderously  reported,  and  as  some  affirm  that  we  say,)  let  us 
do  evil  that  good  may  come."  (Rom.  iii.  7,  8.)  This  is  the  language 
of  others  whom  he  personates,  whose  damnation  is  just,  and  yet  he 
says,  my  lie,  and  why  am  I  judged  as  a  sinner,  as  though  it  were 
his  own. 

In  the  chapter  before,  the  Apostle  had  shown,  at  length,  that  they, 
Christians,  were  dead  to  sin,  and  could  not  live  any  longer  therein  ;  free 
from  sin  and  servants  of  righteousness  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  particular 
consideration,  that  he  finds,  knows,  or  admits  no  middle  station  be- 
tween being  servants  of  sin  and  servants  of  righteousness.  "  Where- 
fore, my  brethren,  ye  also  are  become  dead  to  the  law  by  the  body  of 
Christ ;  that  ye  should  be  married  to  another,  even  to  him  who  is 
raised  from  the  dead,  that  we  should  bring  forth  fruit  to  God  For 
when  we  were  in  the  flesh,  the  motions  of  sins,  w;hich  were  by  the  law, 
did  work  in  our  members,  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto  death.  But  now 
we  are  delivered  from  the  law,  that  being  dead  wherein  we  were  held ; 
that  we  should  serve  in  newness  of  spirit,  and  not  in  the  oldness  of 
the  letter."  This  shows  the  event  of  what  had  taken  place  in  them 
to  be  an  eff'ectual  change  from  bondage  to  liberty,  from  the  service  of 
sin  to  the  service  of  righteousness,  as  above  :  "Being  then  made  free 
from  sin,  ye  became  the  servants  of  righteousness."  And  again  : 
"  Therefore,  if  any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature  :  old  things 
are  passed  away,  behold  all  things  are  become  new.  And  all  these 
things  are  of  God."   (Chap.  vi.  18;  2  Cor.  v.  17,  18.) 

The  Apostle  next  proceeds  to  show  that  the  law  is  not  sin,  neither 
the  proper  cause  of  death ;  but  that  it  discovered  sin,  or  excited  it ; 
for  without  the  law,  sin  was  dead ;  and  that  sin  works  death  by  that 
which  is  good,  which  is  the  law :  "  Wherefore  the  laio  is  holy,  and  the 
commandment  holy,  and  just  and  good.''''  He  herein  also  shows  the 
workings  of  the  mind  in  one  under  the  law  ;  and  among  other  things, 


TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS.  255 

says,  "  For  I  was  alive  without  tlie  law  once."  This  cannot  apply  to 
the  Apostle,  who  was  not  only  trained  up  in  the  law  from  his  infancy, 
long  before  he  could  have  any  understanding  of  the  life  of  which  he 
here  speaks,  and  which  he  lost  by  the  law  and  the  reviving  of  sin,  but 
was  so  exceedingly  zealous  of  the  law,  long  before  his  conviction 
and  conversion,  that  in  the  Spirit  of  inspiration,  after  he  became  a 
Christian,  he  could  refer  back  to  those  times  and  say,  "  Touching  the 
righteotisriess  which  is  in  the  law^  I  was  blameless ;"  ho  therefore  was  not 
without  the  law. 

But  as  all  this  is  in  the  past  tense,  and  therefore  cannot,  with  any 
plausibility,  be  considered  as  Paul's  own  exercise,  except  at  some 
former  period,  when  he  might  be  supposed  to  be  in  convictions,  I  shall 
proceed  to  the  passage  where  he  commences  in  the  present  tense : 
"  For  we  know  that  the  law  is  spiritual :  but  I  am  carnal  sold  under 
sin."  Now  if  this  be  true  of  one  born  of  God,  then  the  following 
consequences  are  true  :  First.  That  Christ  and  sin  are  one  ;  for  no 
man  can  serve  two  masters,  but  this  character  serves  sin.  Secondly. 
That  to  be  carnally  minded  is  not  death  ;  for  sin  has  no  mechanical 
or  coercive  power,  but  can  only  prevail  by  influencing  the  mind, 
therefore  this  person's  mind  has  yielded  to  the  power  of  sin,  and  yet 
he  is  esteemed  as  alive  in  Christ.  Thirdly.  That  to  be  carnally  mind- 
ed^ and  to  be  spiritually  minded,  imply  no  important  distinction  ;  for 
this  character  is  both  ;  therefore  the  Apostle  is  wrong  in  saying,  "  To 
be  carnally  minded  is  death,  but  to  be  spiritually  minded  is  life  and 
peace."  Fourthly.  That  a  slave  to  sin  can  be  a  free-born  son  of 
God  at  the  same  time  ;  "  For  if  the  Son  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be 
free  indeed."  But  this  character  is  made  free  by  the  Son,  and  yet  sold 
under  sin  :  now  one  sold  under  another  against  his  will,  is  what  com- 
mon language  calls  a  slave.  So  it  is  with  this  character,  "  For  that 
which  I  do  I  allow  not ;  for  what  I  would,  I  do  not ;  but  what  I  hate, 
that  do  I."  "If  then  I  do  that  which  I  would  not,  I  consent  to  the 
law  that  it  is  good."  Like  the  impious  heathen.  Video  meliora  pro- 
boque,  deteriora  sequor.  I  see  better  things  and  approve  them,  but 
pursue  the  more  pernicious.  Then  out  of  thine  own  mouth  will  I 
judge  thee,  thou  wicked  servant.  Thou  knowest  thy  Lord's  will,  and 
approvest  it,  but  dost  not  perform  it :  thou  shalt  be  beaten  with  many 
stripes.  And  yet  this  character  is  called  a  Christian.  But  if  a  slave 
to  sin  be  a  Christian  who  is  not  ? 

But  hear  his  reasoning.  "  It  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  that 
dwelleth  in  me."  This  man  then  is  the  temple  and  agent  of  sin  ;  it 
dwells  in  him  and  he  acts  it  out.  But  Christians  are  the  temple  of 
the  living  God,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  them;  and  if  any 
man  defile  the  temple  of  God,  him  will  God  destroy.  (1  Cor.  iii.  16, 
17.)  This  person  therefore  is  not  a  Christian,  but  an  assumed  char- 
acter under  the  power  of  sin,  convicted,  but  not  acquainted  with 
Christ. 

The  next  verses  are  only  a  kind  of  repetition  of  the  same  workings, 
expressing  the  man's  anxiety  about  his  condition.  But  he  adds,  "  I 
find  then  a  law,  that  when  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  me. 
For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man."  This  is 
counted  an  infallible  proof  that  this  whole  description  applies  to  the 
Christian,  not  considering  the  essential  deficiency  which  would  at- 


256  TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS. 

tach  itself  to  this  verse  with  all  the  rest — that  of  not  doing.  "  If  a 
man  love  me,  he  will  [unexceptionably]  keep  my  words ;"  (not  he 
would  if  he  could ;)  and  "  He  that  loveth  me  not,  keepeth  not  my 
saj'iugs."  (Jno.  xiv.  23,24.)  This  is  the  test  of  the  Christian;  and 
in  vain  does  any  man  presume  to  be  a  Christian  without  it.  Christ 
makes  no  apology  for  those  who  are  not  able  ;  neither  do  his  apostles  ; 
that  is,  where  the  Gospel  is  heard  and  known.  If  many  shall  seek  to 
enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able,  he  has  no  more  compassion  on  them 
than  on  those  who  do  not  seek  at  all.  And  why  should  he,  seeing  no 
man  will  ever  experience  the  fatal  calamity,  except  those  who  waste 
their  day  and  strength  in  pursuing  unjustifiable  ways,  and  reject  the 
only  true  way  and  time  of  entrance  .'' 

Who,  therefore,  is  to  believe  that  a  man  has  the  inside  of  his  cup 
and  platter  clean,  unless  the  outside  be  clean  also  }  Who  is  to  be- 
lieve that  there  is  a  good  and  pure  fountain  within,  unless  the  stream 
be  also  clean  and  pure  }  Who  is  to  believe  that  any  man  delights  in 
the  law  of  God  in  the  inward  man,  and  yet  walks,  or  at  all  acts  con- 
trary to  it  in  his  life,  on  any  other  principle,  than  that  he  is  merely  a 
natural  man,  having  never  known  the  power  of  Christ  ?  It  is  a  most 
audacious  impeachment  of  the  character  of  Christ,  for  any  man  to 
say,  that  he,  or  any  other,  has  received  Christ,  has  submitted  to  his 
instructions,  and  has  not  received  power  to  overcome  sin.  Or  are 
these  sayings  true  or  false  .''  "  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil ; 
for  the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning  ;"  and  "  For  this  purpose 
the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of 
the  devil.  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin  ;  for  his 
seed  remaineth  in  him  ;  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of 
God."  I  say,  are  these  sayings  true  or  false  .''  And  is  it  true  or  false, 
that  "  to  as  many  as  receive  him,  to  them  he  giveth  power  to  become 
the   .Sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name  .'"   (Jno.  i. 

People  who  pretend  to  be  Christians  on  the  presumption  that  they 
delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man,  while  they  find  such 
a  law,  that  when  they  would  do  good  evil  is  present,  and  they  do  not 
keep  the  law  of  God,  are  little,  if  at  all,  superior  to  the  heathen  before 
mentioned,  or  those  mistaken  Jews  whom  Paul  describes,  Who  ap- 
prove the  things  which  are  more  excellent,  and  yet  the  name  of  God 
is  blasphemed  among  the  Gentiles  through  them.  (Rom.  ii.  18,  24.) 
Multitudes  of  such  people  profess  the  name  of  Christ,  and  in  works 
deny  him,  neglecting  the  Christian  signal,  "  Let  every  one  that  nameth 
the  name  of  Christ,  depart  from  iniquity,  (2  Tim.  ii.  19  ;)  and  by  so 
doing,  bear  the  boldest  testimony  they  can  readily  do,  to  support  in- 
fidelity, and  prove  the  Gospel  a  blank,  and  their  profession  of  it  a 
farce.  "  Blessed  are  they  that  hear  the  word  of  God  and  keep  it." 
(Luke  xi.  28.) 

Much  stress  seems  to  be  placed  on  the  phrase,  inward  inan,  as  if 
this  character  had  some  new  or  distinct  part,  or  faculty,  some  physi- 
cal, moral,  or  intellectual  power,  distinct  from  other  men,  which 
must  constitute  him  a  Christian  ;  so  that  his  delighting  in  the  law  of 
God,  after  the  inward  man,  must  prove  him  to  be  a  Christian,  let  him 
be  ever  so  unable  to  do  what  he  ought.  Thus  I  remember  to  have 
heard  a  preacher  of  considerable  rank,  when  preaching  expressly  on 


TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS.  257 

this  subject,  boldly  assert  that  the  unregenerate  man  has  no  inner  man. 
But  when  people  become  intelligent  enough  to  know,  that  the  regen- 
erate possess  no  physical  or  intellectual  faculties,  but  such  as  are 
common  to  them  with  the  unregenerate,  and  that  the  inward  man^ 
is  no  other  than  the  intellectual  spirit,  which  we  commonly  call  the 
soul,  they  need  not  be  surprised  that  men  should  approve,  be  pleased 
and  delighted  with  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man,  and  yet  be 
only  natural  men.  God's  works  have  a  beauty  and  order  which  are 
fit  to  attract  the  approbation  and  delight  of  intelligent  men,  in  an  un- 
prejudiced state  of  mind,  and  especially  when  conviction  of  duty, 
sense  of  necessity,  and  the  hope  of  salvation  all  press  toward  the  same 
point :  but  these  come  far  short  of  that  renovating  work  of  the  Spirit, 
in  which  the  man  receives  power  to  become  a  Son  of  God,  and  im- 
proves it  to  that  effect. 

"  But  I  see  another  law  in  my  members  warring  against  the  law  of 
my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in 
my  members."  This  decides  the  point  that  this  is  the  character  of 
one  yet  under  the  power  of  sin  ;  for  the  law  in  his  members  is  too 
strong  for  the  law  in  his  mind  ;  therefore  he  is  either  not  a  Christian, 
or  the  opposing  law  in  the  members  of  a  Christian  is  superior  to  the 
law  or  Spirit  of  Christ,  for  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
he  is  none  of  his."  (Rom.  viii.  9.) 

"  0  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body 
of  this  death  }  I  thank  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  This 
is  the  first  expression  in  the  whole  description  which  savours  of  the 
Gospel.  When  in  the  last  extremity,  and  would  probably  have  sunk 
without  some  relief,  he  is  at  last  shut  up  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  and 
finds  the  prospect  of  deliverance  which  gives  him  some  courage.  But 
that  until  now  he  had  never  known  the  way  of  deliverance,  and  espe- 
cially that  he  had  never  experienced  it,  is  still  farther  proved  as  fol- 
lows : 

First.  Until  now  he  complains  of  that  opposing  law  having  power 
over  him-  and  keeping  him  in  bondage.  But  of  the  Christian  it  is 
said,  "  For  sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you :  for  ye  are  not  un- 
der the  law,  but  under  grace."  (Rom.  vi.  14.)  Secondly.  Those 
who  are  in  Christ,  are  not  at  any  loss  about  who  shall  deliver  them 
from  the  body  of  death  ;  they  both  know  him  and  his  work,  and  have 
found  it  to  be  suflGicient  and  complete.  "  And  ye  are  complete  in 
him  who  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power  ;  in  whom  also  ye 
are  circumcised  with  the  circumcision  made  without  hands,  in  putting 
off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  circumcision  of  Christ : 
buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  also  ye  are  risen  with  him,  [yea, 
already  risen  !]  through  the  faith  of  the  operation  of  God,  who  hath 
raised  him  from  the  dead."  (Col.  ii.  10-12.)  Thirdly.  This  char- 
acter under  consideration  does  not  even  pretend  to  be  an  overcomer 
yet,  notwithstanding  he  has  made  some  discovery  of  the  way,  but  re- 
mains just  as  he  was,  excepting  the  prospect.  "So  then,  with  the 
mind,  I  myself  serve  the  law  of  God  ;  but  with  the  flesh  the  law  of 
sin."  He  is  therefore  not  yet  in  Christ ;  for  they  that  are  in  Cbrist, 
do  not  serve  the  law  of  sin  with  the  flesh  itself,  they  have  crucified  it 
with  its  affections  and  lusts.  "  I  say  then,  walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye 
shall  not  fulfill  the  lusts  of  the  flesh."  "  But  I  keep  my  body  under, 
18 


258  TKUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS. 

and  bring  it  into  subjection."  (Gal.  y.  24,  16  ;  1  Cor.  ix.  27.)  Now 
tbat  wbicL.  is  crucified,  mortified,  or  brought  into  subjection  by  the 
Christian,  cannot  have  power  to  serve  the  law  of  sin. 

But  the  Christian  again  comes  into  view.  "  There  is  therefore 
now  no  condemnation  to  those  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not 
after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit."  (Rom.  viii.  1.)  This  is  an  in- 
ference from  the  sixth  verse  of  the  seventh  chapter,  where  the  Apostle 
left  the  subject  and  made  a  digression  to  speak  of  the  man  under  the 
law,  before  he  proceeded  to  the  full  description  of  a  Christian.  To 
say  there  is  no  condemnation  to  those  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who 
walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit,  because  I  serve  the  law 
of  God  with  my  mind,  but  the  law  of  sin  with  my  flesh,  is  at  best,  in- 
conclusive, not  to  say  absurd.  But  that  justification  should  be  the 
consequence  of  becoming  dead  to  the  law,  and  living  to  Christ  in  the 
Spirit,  is  rational,  and  according  to  the  Gospel. 

"  But  now  we  are  delivered  from  the  law,  that  being  dead  wherein 
we  were  held  ;  that  we  should  serve  in  newness  of  Spirit,  and  not  in 
the  oldness  of  the  letter."  (Rom.  vii.  6.)  "  There  is  therefore  now 
no  condemnation  to  those  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after 
the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.  For 
God  sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin, 
[on  account  of  sin,  to  put  it  away  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,]  con- 
demned sin  in  the  flesh  ;  [where  it  has  its  source  ;]  that  which  the 
law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh  ;  that  the 
righteousness  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after 
the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit."  (viii.  1,  &c.) 

Here  is  a  Christian,  indeed  ;  one  who  does  not  walk  after  the  flesh, 
but  after  the  Spirit ;  one  who  is  set  free  from  the  law  of  sin,  by  the 
Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  one  who  has  a  work  done  in  him,  which 
the  law  could  not  do,  and  which  no  man  under  the  law  ever  did,  or 
ever  could  experience,  until  God's  own  Son  appeared  to  do  it;  that 
is,  to  condemn  sin  in  the  flesh.  It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  in 
all  the  description  of  a  Christian,  there  is  no  account  that  he  would 
do  good  and  could  not. 

But  Paul  is  again  introduced  by  some,  as  an  instance  of  a  Chris- 
tian who  is  plagued  with  the  power  and  vigorous  efforts  of  sin,  as  in 
these  words:  "  And  lest  I  should  be  exalted  above  measure,  through 
the  abundance  of  revelations,  there  was  given  to  me  a  thorn  in  the 
flesh,  the  messenger  of  Satan  to  buff'et  me,  lest  I  should  be  exalted 
above  measure."  (2  Cor.  xii.  7.)  This  thornin  the  flesh,  it  is  plead- 
ed, was  remaining  sin,  with  which  he  had  to  contend.  But  it  might 
be  asked,  why  is  it  said  to  be  given  to  him  .''  for  if  it  was  remaining  sin, 
it  was  with  him  all  along.  Besides  ;  A  thorn  in  the  flesh  must  be  pain- 
ful to  the  flesh,  as  this  no  doubt  was,  for  the  purpose  intended  ;  but  sin, 
in  the  nature  of  works,  is  not  painful  to  the  flesh ;  it  is  what  it  loves,  as 
being  its  own  kind,  its  own  off'spring.  Paul  was  no  better  than  Jesus 
his  Lord  ;  who,  "  though  he  Was  a  Son,  yet  learned  he  obedience  by 
the  things  which  he  suffered  ;"  and  by  his  own  account  this  thorn  was 
given  for  the  purpose  of  humiliation,  contrary  to  any  effect  of  sin. 
Should  this  thorn  be  understood  to  be  the  Judaizing,  and  otherwise 
corrupt  teacher,  who  gave  Paul  so  much  distress  and  tribulation,  the 


TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS.  259 

Greek  text  would  not  by  any  means  contradict  the  idea.  "  There  was 
given  to  me  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  the  messenger  of  Satan,  that  he 
might  buffet  me,  lest  I  should  be  exalted  above  measure."  But  it 
would  be  beside  the  present  purpose  to  enter  into  a  full  investigation 
of  what  this  thorn  was  :  it  is  enough  to  be  satisfied  that  it  was  not  sin 
in  him. 

It  would  also  be  endless  to  enter  upon  all  the  contentions,  argu- 
ments and  objections  against  the  faith  of  a  sinless  life  in  Christians. 
I  have  purposely  noticed  those  which  are  most  commonly  offered,  and 
which  appear  most  plausible.  As  for  those  frequently  introduced 
from  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  I  have  already  dismissed  them  as 
coming  from  a  source  incapable  of  furnishing  the  example  or  pattern 
of  a  Christian.  The  law  made  nothing  perfect,  but  was  the  intro- 
duction of  a  better  hope.  (See  the  Greek  text,  Heb.  vii.  19.)  By 
the  law  was  the  knowledge  of  sin,  but  not  of  salvation. 

It  may  be  observed  that  in  all  the  arguments  proffered  in  support 
of  the  sentiment,  that  Christians  live  in  sin,  or  commit  sin,  no  Scrip- 
ture asserts  the  fact.  All  that  can  be  done  is  to  argue  by  inference, 
and  such  as  is  very  precarious ;  such  as  can  easily  be  understood  dif- 
ferently without  distortion  ;  such  as  must  necessarily  be  received  in  a 
■different  sense,  or  set  the  Scriptures  to  clash  one  part  against  anotherj 
and  the  more  feeble  and  precarious  evidence  to  confront  and  overturn 
the  most  pointed,  connected  and  forcible.  For  in  proof  of  the  sinless 
life  of  a  Christian,  all  and  every  one  of  them  stand  connected  in  such 
a  manner  as  is  not  found  on  the  other  side,  and  which  will  not  ad- 
mit of  any  acceptation  contrary  to  proving,  as  expressly  as  language 
can  do  it,  that  the  regenerate  sons  of  God  do  not  commit  sin,  but  are 
saved  from  it.  "  Therefore  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new 
creature  ;  old  things  are  passed  away  ;  behold,  all  things  are  become 
new.  And  all  these  things  are  of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to 
himself  through  Jesus  Christ."  (2  Cor.  v.  17,  IS.)  It  may  be  in- 
quired. Is  sin  of  the  old  fallen  creation,  or  of  the  new  ?  If  it  be  of 
the  old,  it  is  passed  away  from  those  who  are  in  Christ ;  but  if  sin  be 
the  whole,  or  any  part  of  the  new  creation  of  God  in  Christ,  it  may 
abide  forever.  Christ  came  to  save  his  people  from  their  sins ;  and 
if  an  end  to  sin  be  not  the  certain  concomitant  of  being  in  Christ,  it 
may  be  asked.  What  has  the  new  creation  effected  ?  If  he  be  yet  a 
sinner,  he  was  that  before,  and  thus  the  n6w  creation  is  made  a  mere 
sound,  a  name  without  substance,  a  true  description  of  the  religion  of 
the  bulk  of  professors.     But 

Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  has,  in  the  most  explicit  terms, 
declared,  that  they  who  are  in  Christ,  are  dead  to  sin,  so  as  to  live  no 
longer  therein,  and  are  alr^a.c^  free  from  it.  "  What  shall  we  say 
then  ?  Shall  we  continue  1^^^  that  grace  may  abound  ?  God  for- 
bid [it  cannot  be]  ;  how  shall 'We  who  are  dead  to  sin  live  any  longer 
therein  }  Know  ye  not  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into 
Jesus  Christ  were  baptized  into  his  death  ?  Wherefore  we  are  buried 
with  him  by  baptism  into  death ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up 
from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should 
walk  in  newness  of  life.  For  if  we  have  been  planted  together  in  the 
likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrec- 
tion."    Here  the  end  of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection  is  stated  in 


260  TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS. 

plain  terms  to  be  our  dying  with  him,  that  is,  to  sin  as  he  died,  and 
rising  with  him,  or  walking  in  newness  of  life.  If  therefore  we  be  in 
Christ,  and  not  dead  to  sin,  and  consequently  do  not  walk  in  newness 
of  life,  the  end  of  his  death  and  his  rising  again  is  lost ;  Christ 
has  died  in  vain,  we  are  yet  in  oxir  sins,  and  he  has  failed  in  his  under- 
taking. 

It  is  vain  to  argue  that  these  happy  effects  are  to  take  place  at 
some  future  period,  for  the  Apostle  brings  the  matter  right  down  to 
the  present  tense,  to  take  effect  now  and  henceforth,  as  the  foundation 
work  of  future  increase  and  glory.  We  who  are  dead  to  sin — are 
buried  with  him — "  Knowing  this  that  our  old  man  is  [already]  cru- 
cified with  him,  that  the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth 
loe  should  not  serve  sin.  For  he  that  is  dead  is  freed  from  sin.''''  That 
is,  as  we  are.  And  then  on  that  position,  that  we  are  dead  with  him, 
he  grounds  the  argument  of  our  living  as  he  lives  ;  that  is,  to  God — 
in  the  Spirit — in  the  resurrection,  or  in  newness  of  life.  "  Now  if  we 
be  dead  with  Christ,  we  believe  that  we  shall  also  live  with  him. 
Knowing  that  Christ  being  raised  from  the  dead,  dieth  no  more  ;  death 
hath  no  more  dominion  over  him.  For  in  that  he  died,  he  died  to 
sin  once  ;  but  in  that  he  liveth,  he  liveth  to  God.  Likewise  reckon  ye 
also  yourselves  to  be  dead  indeed  to  sin,  [not  in  name,  or  in  prospect,] 
but  alive  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

It  might  be  asked.  Why  should  he  counsel  them  to  reckon  them- 
selves dead  to  sin  and  alive  to  God,  if  they  were  not  so  in  truth  }  Did 
he  want  them  to  be  deceived  ?  Or  did  he  expect  that  to  esteem  them- 
selves what  they  were  not,  or  could  not  be,  would  be  for  their  edifica- 
tion ?  But  it  was  reasonable  to  encourage  aUwho  believed  to  inherit 
their  privilege . 

After  some  counsel  to  live  up  to  their  privilege,  he  adds  :  "  For 
sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you  ;  for  ye  are  not  under  the  law, 
but  under  grace."  And  he  effectually  cuts  off  all  pretext  for  sin,  or 
for  any  to  think  they  could  sin,  and  yet  be  in  Christ.  "  What  then  ? 
shall  we  sin,  because  we  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace  } 
God  forbid.  Know  ye  not,  that  to  whom  ye  yield  yourselves  servants 
to  obey,  his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye  obey,  whether  of  sin  unto 
death,  or  of  obedience  unto  righteousness.  But  God  be  thanked  that 
ye  were  the  servants  of  sin  ;*  but  ye  have  obeyed  from  the  heart  that 
form  of  doctrine  which  was  delivered  unto  you.     Being  then  made 


*  But  God  he  thanked  that  ye  were  the  servants  of  sin  !  We  are  aware  that 
the  Greek  copy  in  common  use,  readily  admits  the  construction  given  to  this 
text  by  the  translators  ;  but  it  is  evidently  susceptible  of  a  very  different  con- 
struction ;  and  we  feel  confident  that  the  Apostle  Paul  never  conveyed  to  the 
Romans,  under  tlie  Spirit  of  Divine  inspiration,  the  meaning  which  is  here  pre- 
sented to  view.  The  French  translation,  though  less  literal,  is  certainly  more 
consistent,  and  is  also  in  perfect  conformity  with  that  spirit  of  the  Gospel  mani- 
fested by  the  Apostle  in  all  his  writings.     It  is  as  follows  : 

"  Mais  graces  a  Dieu,  de  ce  qu'apres  avoir  iti  esclaves  du  peche,  vous  avez 
obei  de  tout  votre  coeur,  en  vous  conformant  a  la  doctrine  qui  vous  a  ete  donnee 
pour  regie."  But  thanks  to  God,  that  after  having  been  slaves  to  sin,  ye  have 
obeyed  with  all  your  heart,  in  conforming  yourselves  to  the  doctrine  which  was 
given  you  for  a  rule. 


TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS.  261 

free  from  sin,  ye  became  servants  of  rigliteousness."  And  a  little 
after,  "  For  when  ye  were  the  servants  of  sin,  ye  were  free  from  right- 
eousness. What  fruit  had  ye  then  in  those  things  whereof  ye  are  now 
ashamed  ?  for  the  end  of  those  things  is  death.  But  now.,  being  made 
free  from  sin.,  and  become  servants  to  God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto 
holiness,  and  the  end  everlasting  life." 

It  is  here  to  be  particularly  noticed,  that  the  Apostle  leaves 
no  middle  station  or  condition,  between  being  a  servant  of  God 
and  a  servant  of  sin  —  a  man  must  be  either  the  one  or  the 
other.  "  For  when  ye  were  the  servants  of  sin,  ye  were  free  from 
righteousness ;"  and,  "  Being  then  made  free  from  sin,  ye  became 
the  servants  of  righteousness  ;"  "  But  now,  being  made  free  from  sin, 
and  become  servants  of  God,  ye  have  your  fruit  to  holiness."  No  dif- 
ference between  sinning,  and  being  the  servants  of  sin  ;  "  What  then  ? 
shall  we  sin,  because  we  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace  .? 
God  forbid.  [Never.]  Know  ye  not  that  to  whom  ye  yield  yourselves 
servants  to  obey,  his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye  obey."  All  reason- 
ings therefore,  that  Christians  sin  unwillingly  and  without  intention, 
through  the  suddenness  or  violence  of  temptation,  are  false  and  vain, 
the  pleas  of  hypocrites,  and  those  who  obey  not  the  Gospel. 

We  do  not  mean  by  this,  that  true  believers  have  no  temptations  ; 
"  The  disciple  is  not  above  his  master,  nor  the  servant  above  his 
Lord.  It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as  his  master,  and  the 
servant  as  his  Lord."  (Matt.  x.  24,  25.)  What  therefore  is  neces- 
sary to  be  a  disciple  indeed,  is  to  overcome  as  he  did,  and  when 
tempted  in  all  points  as  he  was,  to  remain  as  he  did — without  sin. 
"  Behold,  we  count  them  happy  who  endure  temptation."  (Jas.  v 
11.)  If,  therefore,  those  especially  who  are  young  in  the  faith,  should 
be  greatly  beset  through  the  infirmity  of  the  flesh,  that  is  not  to  say 
they  serve  the  flesh  or  commit  sin,  so  long  as  they  steadfastly  refuse 
to  yield  to  the  temptation,  any  more  than  Jesus  Christ  could  be  said 
to  serve  the  devil,  when  he  was  sorely  tempted  of  him  forty  days  ;  for 
he  was  tempted  in  all  points  in  like  manner  as  we  are,  loithout  sin. 
(Heb.  iv.  15.)  To  this  agree  the  words  of  the  Apostle  :  "  I  speak 
after  the  manner  of  men,  because  of  the  infirmity  of  the  flesh  ;  for  as 
ye  have  yielded  your  members  servants  to  uncleanness,  and  to  ini- 
quity, unto  iniquity  ;  even  so  now  yield  your  members  servants  to 
righteousness  unto  holiness."  Thus  Christians  indeed  give  themselves 
wholly  to  God,  and  yield  to  nothing  else.  "  For  though  we  walk  in 
the  flesh,  we  do  not  war  after  the  flesh  :  (for  the  weapons  of  our  war- 


This  evidently  conveys  the  Apostle's  meaning  much  better  than  our  common 
translation.  But  by  supplying  the  relative  who,  after  ye,  (which  might  be  done 
with  much  more  consistency  than  many  supplies  made  by  the  translators,)  it 
would  read,  with  propriety,  thus  :  But  thanks  to  God,  that  ye  wlio  were  the  ser- 
vants of  sin,  have  nevertheless  obeyed  from  the  heart,  &c.  This  sense  agrees 
with  the  comment  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  upon  the  text.  "  This  verse,"  says  he, 
"  should  be  read  thus :  But  thanks  he  to  God,  that,  although  ye  were  the  servants 
of  sin,  neverllieless,  ye  have  obeyed  from  the  heart  that  form  of  doctrine  that  was 
delivered  unto  you ;  or  that  mould  of  teaching  into  which  ye  were  cast.  The  Apos- 
tle does  not  thank  God  that  they  were  sinners ;  but  that  although  they  were  such, 
they  had  now  received  and  obeyed  the  Gospel."  Eds. 


262  TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS. 

fare  are  not  carnal,  Ibnt  mighty  tlirongli  God,  to  tlie  pulling  down  of 
strongholds:)  casting  down  imaginations,  [reasonings,]  and  every  higli 
thing  that  exalteth  itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing 
into  captivity  every  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ."  (2  Cor.  x. 
3,  5.) 

The  conquered  are  not  conquerors.  If  a  man  contend  against  the 
flesh,  and  be  at  all  overcome,  so  as  to  commit  sin,  or  be  defiled  in  his 
spirit,  he  cannot  be  said  to  be  free  from  sin,  "  For  of  whomsoever  a 
man  is  overcome,  of  the  same  he  is  brought  into  bondage."  (2  Peter 
ii.  19.)  And  though  his  freedom  may  have  been  proposed  to  him, 
and  he  may  have  engaged  in  the  war,  he  has  not  yet  gained  his  point 
— he  is  not  born  of  God.  "  We  know  that  whosoever  is  born  of  God, 
sinneth  not;  but  he  that  is  begotten  of  God  keepeth  himself,  and 
that  wicked  one  toucheth  him  not,"  (1  Jno.  v.  18  ;)  therefore  to  be 
brought  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin,  is  incompatible  with  being  a 
Christian  indeed.   (Rom.  vii.  23.) 

Enough  is  said  to  satisfy  any  man,  who  does  not  yield  to  prejudice 
and  the  carnal  mind  more  than  to  truth,  that  they  who  are  Christians 
indeed,  do  not  sin,  and  are  in  no  degree  subject  to  serve  sin.  But 
knowing  the  force  of  education,  and  the  strength  of  prepossession  on 
the  mind,  that  the  unwary,  though  intentionally  honest,  maybe  liable 
to  overlook  the  evidence,  we  shall  here  add  a  series  of  Scriptures  in 
connection,  so  plain  and  pointed,  that  nothing  but  willful  dishonesty 
can  easily  ward  off  the  conviction,  in  those  who  value  the  truth  of  the 
Scriptures.  "  And  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him,  purifieth 
himself,  even  as  he  [that  is  Christ]  is  pure.  Whosoever  committeth 
sin,  transgresseth  also  the  law  :  for  sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law. 
And  ye  know  that  he  was  manifested  to  take  away  our  sins,  and  in 
him  is  no  sin.  Whosoever  abideth  in  him,  sinneth  not :  whosoever 
sinneth,  hath  not  seen  him,  neither  known  him.  Little  children,  let 
no  man  deceive  you  :  he  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous,  even 
as  he  [the  Son  of  God]  is  righteous.  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of 
the  devil  ;  for  the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works 
of  the  devil.  Whosoever  is  born  of  God,  doth  nofc  commit  sin  ;  for 
his  seed  remaineth  in  him  :  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of 
God.  In  this  the  children  of  God  are  manifest,  and  the  children  of 
the  devil :  whosoever  doeth  not  righteousness  is  not  of  God,  neither 
he  that  loveth  not  his  brother."  Thus  boldly  and  unequivocally  do 
the  Scriptures  testify,  that  sin  is  not  found  in  those  who  are  born  of 
God,  or  are  the  true  followers  of  Christ. 

The  learned  student  of  Edinburgh,  Macknight,  on  the  passage, 
*'  Whosoever  is  born  of  God,  doth  not  commit  sin;"  which  he  renders, 
Whosover  is  begotten  of  God,  doth  not  work  sin;  has  the  following  re- 
mark :  "  By  translating  a.p.apriav  ov  'ifdisT  [amartian  ou  poiei]  doth  not 
work  sin,  according  to  the  true  import  of  the  phrase,  the  argument 
drawn  from  this  text  in  favour  of  the  sinless  perfection  of  the  saints 
in  the  present  life  is  precluded."  By  this  gloss  he  has  aimed  ta 
prove  that  all  a  Christian  can  gain  in  the  present  stage  of  action,  is 
not  to  make  a  trade  or  business  of  sinning,  or  perhaps  not  to  sin  wil- 
lingly, as  often  expressed  :  for  should  we  take  this  comment  in  an  ac- 
ceptation more  favourable  to  him,  it  must  lose  all  its  force  ;  because 


TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS.  263 

to  Tinderstancl  his  phraseology,  Doth  not  work  sin,  as  meaning,  Doth 
not  sin,  or  doth  not  commit  sin  at  all,  would  be  to  make  him  acknow- 
ledge the  fact  which  he  aimed  to  overturn. 

But  the  nakedness  and  impoteney  of  his  criticism  might  have  ap- 
peared to  himself,  had  he  been  critic  enough  to  inspect,  with  some 
discernment,  the  next  clause  of  the  verse  :  "  For  his  seed  remaineth 
in  him ;  and  he  cannot  sin,  [ou  Suvwrat  ajxapmv3iv]  because  he  is  born  of 
God."  Or  this  :  "  Whosoever  sinneth,  [irag  6  a,a«,pT«.vwv,]  hath  not 
seen  him  neither  known  him."  Or  had  he  attended,  without  prepos- 
session, to  another  phrase  of  the  same  apostle  on  the  same  subject : 
"  We  know  that  whosoever  is  born  of  God  sinneth  not ;  [tfag  o 
y£y£vv>]|xs'vog ;  every  one  who  is  born,  or  hath  been  begotten,  ou;;^  a/xap- 
Tavsi,  sinneth  not,  or  doth  not  sin :  real  sin  is  not  chargeable  or  ap- 
plicable to  him  in  the  minutest  sense  ;]  but  he  that  is  begotten  of  God, 
keepeth  himself,  and  that  wicked  one  toucheth  him  not :  [o  y£vv?]^s;V,  one 
who  is  a  subject  of  that  birth  or  begetting  which  is  of  God."] 

Such  laboured  and  unnatural  turns,  such  forced  constructions,  in 
the  writings  of  studious  and  learned  men,  show  the  amazing  influence 
of  systematic  prepossession,  and  the  indispensable  necessity  for  the 
light  of  the  Spirit  in  those  who  would  give  a  genuine  and  liquidated 
explication  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  language  of  the  Apostle  is 
explicit,  plain  and  simple,  that  they  who  are  born  or  begotten  of  God, 
do  not  sin. 

Where  can  the  abettors  of  sin  in  God's  children  find  such  express 
and  pointed  testimony  .'  Until  they  can,  it  is  time  for  them  to  cease 
to  "sow  pillows  to  all  armholes,"  to  daub  with  untempered  mortar, to 
soothe  and  flatter  souls  with  the  notion  of  eternal  life,  while  they 
come  short  of  the  mark  which  Christ  and  his  apostles  have  given. 
But  such  testimony  is  not  to  be  found :  not  a  single  text  of  Holy 
Scripture  says,  that  those  who  are  born  of  God  commit  sin,  or. have 
sin  in  them,  or  anything  tantamount.  Other  Scriptures  might  be  ad- 
duced, but  the  above  are  sufficient  here  ;  the  evidence  is  as  pointed 
as  language  will  admit. 

It  is  indeed  the  greatest  absurdity  to  suppose  that  Christians  com- 
mit sin,  or  are  subject  to  sin  ;  for  there  is  no  supposable  cause  for  such 
a  state  of  things,  unless  they  either  choose  to  sin,  or  God  chooses  they 
should,  or  they  cannot  avoid  it.  The  first  two  are  too  absurd  to  be 
avowed.  If  the  last  be  true,  it  is  either  because  God  is  unable,  or  un- 
willing to  save  them  ;  which  involves  the  same  absurdity,  as  no  violence 
to  the  conscience  or  agency  of  man  is  requisite  to  cause  them  to  do 
what  they  desire  to  do.  To  argue  that  Christians  sin  through  the 
strength  and  subtlety  of  the  temptations  of  the  devil,  notwithstanding 
the  will  of  God  and  their  own  choice  to  the  contrary,  (as  many  are 
weak  enough  to  say,)  is  at  once  to  affirm  that  the  devil  possesses  more 
power  and  influence  over  Christians  than  God  himself;  consequently, 
that  the  devil  is  most  wise  and  most  powerful. 

After  all,  people  are  so  fond  of  a  pretext  for  sin,  of  a  name  to  live,  while 
they  are  dead  in  sin,  and  not  to  sin,  and  especially  so  unwilling  to  take 
the  conviction,  that  they  are  the  true  body  of  Christ,  and  they  only,  who 
are  free  from  sin,  that  some  will  likely  raise  objections  saying,  May  not 
people  be  deceived,  and  think  they  do  not  commit  sin  when  they  do .'' 
This  objection,  weak  as  it  is,  I  have  heard  from  the  mouth  of  professors 


264  TRUE    CHRISTIANS    NOT    SINNERS. 

of  great  zeal,  and  no  contemptible  degree  of  respectability.  But  be  that 
objection  as  it  may,  there  can  be  no  deception  in  the  strongest  confidence 
that  they  who  are  visible  sinners,  they  who  are  conscious  to  themselves 
that  they  are  sinners,  and  they' who  acknowledge  they  are  sinners,  and 
under  that  impression  are  habitually  praying  to  God  to  forgive  their 
daily  transgressions,  are  none  of  them  Christians.  Neither  can  there 
be  any  deception  in  setting  aside  those  bodies  of  people  whose  faith 
it  is,  that  all  men  commit  sin,  even  after  they  are  born  of  God,  as  being 
none  else  than  branches  of  Antichrist.  If  people  may  be  deceived 
where  no  sin  appears,  and  none  is  acknowledged,  no  deceptions  need 
be  dreaded  where  it  is  manifested,  or  where  it  is  acknowledged  to 
exist.  If  wolves  may  appear  in  sheep's  clothing,  sheep  do  not  appear 
in  wolves'  clothing. 

But  let  it  be  considered  against  whom  this  objection  is  levelled  :  not 
against  man,  but  against  God — not  a  scheme  of  men,  but  the  teaching  of 
Christ.  If  the  rule  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles  be  deceptive,  if  his 
teaching  be  unsafe,  it  is  time  to  look  out  for  another  head  of  the  body. 
But  if  Christ  is  a  true  teacher,  there  is  no  deception  in  the  case  ;  his 
word,  and  those  of  his  Apostles,  put  the  matter  out  of  doubt :  "  If  a 
man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  word — He  that  loveth  me  not,  keepetli 
not  my  sayings."  "  Either  make  the  tree  good  and  his  fruit  good,  or 
else  make  the  tree  corrupt  and  his  fruit  corrupt :  for  the  tree  is  known 
by  his  fruit."  "  He  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but 
shall  have  the  light  of  life."  "  He  that  loveth  his  brother,  abideth  in 
the  light  and  there  is  none  occasion  of  stumbling  in  him."  (Jno.  xiv. 
23,  24  ;  Matt.  xii.  33  ;  Jno.  viii.  12  ;  1  Jno.  ii.  10.)  Now  who  will 
pretend  to  be  Christians,  and  not  love  the  brethren  ?  Yet  many,  if  not 
all  of  those  who  profess  in  the  various  denominations  called  Christian, 
complain  of  getting  into  darkness,  and  being  in  great  darkness.  Let  all 
men  speedily  determine  who  are  the  true  witnesses,  Christ  and  his 
apostles,  or  these  dark  souls. 

But  perhaps  it  will  be  pleaded,  that  the  rule  of  .Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles is  true  and  safe  enough,  but  the  danger  is  in  the  weakness  and 
inability  of  men  to  comprehend  it.  Men  are  very  apt  to  plead  thus, 
saying.  He  is  true,  but  we  are  false — the  wrong  is  all  in  us.  This  ob- 
jection reflects  just  as  much  dishonour  on  Christ,  and  is  just  as  weak 
as  in  any  other  form  ;  for  Christ  gave  his  instructions  for  the  use  of  men 
just  such  as  they  are,  their  weakness,  darkness  and  loss  being  all  includ- 
ed, that  they  might  be  delivered,  walk  in  the  truth,  and  know  it  to 
their  satisfaction  :  "  For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost."  And  again  :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 
because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor ;  he  hath 
sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  cap- 
tives, and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind  ;  to  set  at  liberty  them  that 
are  bruised  ;  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  (Luke  xix. 
10,  and  iv.  18,  19.)  Now  to  suppose  any  danger  from  the  weakness 
and  blindness  of  men  respecting  the  law  of  Christ,  (except  in  those  who 
are  willfully  ignorant  and  disobedient,)  is  to  impeach  the  character  of 
Christ  as  an  unsafe  and  incapable  teacher,  that  is,  an  impostor,  inasmuch 
as  his  avowed  commission  is  to  relieve  those  in  that  very  condition. 
Cease  then  to  contend  against  the  benevolent  and  condescending  King 
of  heaven,  who  makes  the  way  so  plain,  that  he  may  run  that  readeth 


UNITED    INHERITANCE.  265 

it — that  way  in  which  the  wayfaring  man  though  a  fool,  shall  not  err, 
and  acknowledge  the  truth ;  Jay  aside  all  pretensions  to  be  Christians, 
until  ye  get  the  faith  and  works  which  stand  the  test. 

Ignorance  of  the  life  and  power  of  the  Gospel  may  lead  some  to  con- 
clude, that  deceivers  may  live  so  like  true  Christians,  that  they  cannot 
be  known,  or  fully  distinguished.  This  argument  will  be  granted  to  be. 
valid,  provided  nature  can  equal  the  Gospel,  or  the  fruits  of  the  Gospel 
are  not  such  as  cannot  be  imitated  by  the  strictest  rules  of  morality,  nor 
by  the  greatest  exertions  of  wisdom  and  prudence  of  natural  men.  If 
the  life  of  Christians  is  not  such  as  cannot  be  imitated,  they  cannot  be 
distinguished  from  others ;  for  if  any  deceivers,  or  any  other  class  of 
the  children  of  this  world,  can  produce  as  good  fruit,  and  consequently 
as  good  evidence  of  Christianity  as  the  true-hearted  Christian,  they  will 
have  as  good  a  claim  to  the  character  as  he  ;  consequently  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  apostles  must  be  found  false  witnesses,  in  proposing  a  rule,  and 
giving  instructions,  which  are  insuflBcient,  and  therefore  dangerous. 
But  as  this  will  not  readily  be  granted  by  professors,  we  shall  per- 
sist in  proving,  according  to  their  words,  that  the  true  Church  can  be 
known  and distinsuished  from  all  others. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

INIMITABLE  LOVE  AND  UNION  PREVAIL  IN  THE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST, 
AND  ARE  MANIFESTED  IN  A  UNITED  INHERITANCE  IN  THINGS 
TEMPORAL    AS    WELL    AS    SPIRITUAL. 

The  same  rule  of  judgment,  and  the  same  marks  hy  which  Chris- 
tians know  themselves,  and  know  one  another,  so  as  to  apprehend  the 
body  of  Christ  collectively,  serve,  in  the  main,  to  prove  to  the  world 
and  to  all  men,  who  are  the  true  Church.  For,  notwithstanding  the 
wicked  may  call  them  devils,  and  reproach  them  as  deceivers,  because 
of  the  very  evidences  of  Christianity  which  they  manifest,  such  are  these 
same  evidences,  that  they  must  be  confessed  to  proceed  from  a  source 
superior  to  human  wisdom  and  human  art.  Therefore  "beware  of 
false  prophets,  who  come  to  you  in  sheep's  clothing,  but  inwardly  they 
are  ravening  wolves.  Ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits.  Do  men 
gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles  .?  Even  so,  every  good  tree 
bringeth  forth  good  fruit ;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit. 
A  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit ;  neither  can  a  corrupt  tree 
bring  forth  good  fruit.  Wherefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them. " 
(Matt.  vii.  15,  &c.) 

No  doubt  false  prophets  may  appear  with  great  zeal,  and  make  a 
fair  show ;  but  they  can  nevertheless  be  known ;  for  hy  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them.  Now  these  fruits  can  be  known  and  distinguished 
from  all  others  ;  else  an  appeal  to  them  as  the  criterion  by  which  to 
distinguish  the  true  prophets,  or  Church,  from  the  false,  would  be  use- 


266  UNITED    INHERITANCE. 

less.  Thus  it  is  written  :  "  In  this  the  children  of  God  are  manifest, 
and  the  children  of  the  devil :  whosoever  doeth  not  righteousness  is 
not  of  God,  neither  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother."  Here,  then,  is 
the  evidence  :  "  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."  (Rom.  xiii.  10.) 
So  also  the  substance  and  work  of  the  Gospel  appear  to  concentrate 
in  nothing  so  much  as  love  ;  "  For  in  Jesus  Christ  neither  circumci- 
sion availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  faith  which  worketh 
by  love."  (Gal.  v.  6.)  "  And  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity,  [the 
offspring  of  love^]  these  three  ;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  charity 
[the  offspring  of  love."]  "  If  a  man  love  me  he  willkeep  my  words  : 
and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  to  him  and  make  our 
abode  with  him."  (1  Cor.  xiii.  13;  Jno.  xiv.  23.)  "God  is  love; 
and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God  and  God  in  him."  "  Be- 
hold, if  God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another."  (1  Jno. 
iv.  16,  11.)  These  Scriptures,  and  a  mulrtitude  more,  show  that  the 
substance  and  work  of  the  Gospel  are  manifested  in  love.  There- 
fore said  Jesus  Christ,  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my 
disciples,  if  ye  have  "love  one  to  another."  (Jno.  xiii.  35.) 

Men  are  so  tenacious  of  that  kind  of  sense,  that  the  life  of  a  Chris- 
tian is  so  hidden  a  matter  as  not  to  be  known  by  any  means,  that  many 
will  probably  conclude,  that  nothing  can  be  determined  by  this  love, 
for  who  knows  whether  a  man's  love  to  the  brethren  be  genuine  or 
not }  But  the  Scriptures  cut  this  matter  short :  for  by  this  shall  all 
men  know  ;  they  are  not  left  to  guess  at  it,  but  they  shall  Ttnow  that  ye 
are  my  disciples.  Love  therefore  must  be  satisfactorily  manifested  to 
all  candid  men,  wherever  it  exists. 

But  let  it  be  granted  that  love  is  not  known  by  intuitive  knowledge  ; 
that  the  gift  and  sensation,  or  internal  affection  of  love  is  not  visible, 
or  in  the  abstract,  to  the  natural  man,  it  can  nevertheless  be  discov* 
ered  in  its  operations  ;  for  as  faith  without  works  is  dead,  being  alone, 
so  love  without  effects  would  be  a  contradiction  of  terms.  But  whoso 
keepeth  his  word,  in  him  verily  is  the  love  of  God  perfected  ;  hereby 
know  we  that  we  are  in  him."  (1  Jno.  ii.  5.)  "  But  whoso  hath  this 
world's  good,  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and  shutteth  up  his 
bowels  of  compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in 
him }  My  little  children  let  us  not  love  in  word,  neither  in  tongue, 
but  in  deed,  [or  work,]  and  in  truth,  and  hereby  we  know  that  we  are 
of  the  truth,  and  shall  assure  our  hearts  before  him."  (1  Jno.  iii.  17- 
19.)  Love  therefore  is  manifested  by  its  operations  as  the  cause  by  the 
effect.  But  as  the  love  of  the  body  of  Christ  is  peculiar  to  his  mem- 
bers, separate  and  distinct  from  all  love  of  the  children  of  this  world, 
(otherwise  it  would  not  distinguish  them,)  so  its  operations  must  be 
such  as  do  not  pertain  to  any  rank  or  class,  except  the  aforesaid  body 
of  Christ,  so  as  to  prove  the  present  agency  and  indwelling  of  the 
Spirit  of  God. 

Now  the  immediate  production  of  love,  in  the  members  of  Christ's 
body,  and  that  also  by  which  the  world  are  to  know  and  believe  them 
to  be  the  people  of  his  love,  is  union — such  a  union  as  the  world  know  not. 
"  That  they  all  may  be  one  ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee, 
that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us :  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou 
has  sent  me.  And  the  glory  which  thou  gavest  me,  I  have  given  them  ; 
that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one.     I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me, 


UNITED    INHERITANCE.  267 

that  they  may  be  perfect  in  one ;  and  that  the  world  may  know  that 
thou  hast  sent  me,  and  hast  loved  them^  as  thou  hast  loved  wze."  (Jno. 
xvii.  21-23.)  This  then  is  the  state  of  the  body  of  Christ  here  on 
earth,  in  sight  of  the  world,  that  they  might  know  and  believe  the  work 
of  God — perfect  in  one.  This  evidence,  in  the  estimation  of  Jesus 
Christ,  is  sufficient  to  convince  the  world,  who  are  the  people  of  God's 
love — and  who  is  he  that  will  scruple  the  propriety  of  his  judgment? 
But  where  such  a  union  is  not  manifested,  as  evidences  the  present 
agency  and  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  being  his  holy  habitation, 
the  true  evidence  of  Christianity  is  wanting. 

This  union  is  of  a  different  nature,  separate  and  distinct  from  all  the 
union  which  can  possibly  subsist  among  the  children  of  the  flesh,  pro- 
fessed Christians  or  others  :  "  The  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace."  (Eph.  iv.  3.)  Therefore  it  is  that  true  believers  are  able  to 
maintain  and  increase  in  that  union  which  the  world  cannot  touch ; 
gathering  together,  more  and  more,  as  they  increase  in  the  work  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus,  as  it  was  prophesied  of  them  ;  "  Therefore  they  shall 
come  and  sing  in  the  height  of  Zion,  and  shall  flow  together  to  the 
goodness  of  the  Lord,  for  wheat  and  for  wine,  and  for  oil,  and  for  the 
young  of  the  flock  and  of  the  herd  ;  and  their  soul  shall  be  as  a  water- 
ed garden  ;  and  they  shall  not  sorrow  any  more  at  all.  Then  shall  the 
virgin  rejoice  in  the  dance,  both  young  men  and  old  together  :  For  I 
will  turn  their  mourning  into  joy,  and  will  comfort  them,  and  make  them 
rejoice  from  their  sorrow.  And  I  will  satiate  the  soul  of  the  priest  with 
fatness,  and  my  people  shall  be  satisfied  with  my  goodness,  saith 
the  Lord."  (Jer.  xxxi.  12-14.)  "  Now,  therefore,  ye  are  no  more 
strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the 
household  of  God ;  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles 
and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone  ;  in 
whom  all  the  building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto  an  holy  tem- 
ple in  the  Lord  ;  in  whom  ye  also  are  builded  together  for  an  habitation 
of  God  through  the  Spirit."     (Eph.  ii.  19-22.) 

Numerous  other  passages  might  be  quoted  to  prove  that  Christians 
are  united  by  one  Spirit  into  one  body,  as  the  habitation  or  temple  of 
God.  And  as  like  causes  produce  like  effects,  the  unity  of  Spirit  within 
produces  unity  of  operation  without,  for  as  is  the  fountain  so  are  the 
streams.  Therefore  it  is  that  believers  are  united  in  a  manner  and 
degree  which  the  world  cannot  imitate,  and  the  rule  of  Christ  is  proved 
true  by  experiment.  Thus  also  it  took  place  in  the  days  of  the  apos- 
tles :  "  And  the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart  and 
of  one  soul :  neither  said  any  of  them  that  aught  of  the  things  which 
he  possessed  was  his  own  ;  but  they  had  all  things  common.  And  with 
great  power  gave  the  apostles  witness  of  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord 
Jesus:  and  great  grace  was  upon  them  all.  Neither  was  there  any 
among  them  that  lacked:  for  as  many  as  were  possessors  of  lands  or 
houses  sold  them,  and  brought  the  prices  of  the  things  which  were  sold, 
and  laid  them  down  at  the  apostles'  feet ;  and  distribution  was  made 
to  every  man  according  as  he  had  need."     (Acts  iv.  32,  &c.) 

Not  only  the  example  of  the  primitive  Christians,  in  whom  dwelt  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  but  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles  afterwards,  teaches  the 
same  union  and  disinterested  benevolence  and  charity.  "  Let  no  man 
seek  his  own,  but  every  man  another's  wealth."     "  Fulfill  ye  my  joy. 


268  UNITED    INHERITANCE. 

that  ye  be  like-minded,  having  the  same  love,  being  of  one  accord, 
[Greek,  one  soul,]  of  one  mind.  Let  nothing  be  done  through  strife 
or  vain-glory  ;  but  in  lowliness  of  mind  let  each  esteem  others  better 
than  themselves.  Look  not  every  man  on  his  ov?n  things,  but  every 
man  also  on  the  things  of  others.  Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was 
also  in  Christ  Jesus."  "  Let  the  brother  of  low  degree  rejoice  in  that  he 
is  exalted  :  but  the  rich  in  that  he  is  made  low."  ( 1  Cor.  x.  24  ;  Phil, 
ii.  2-5;  Jas.  i.  9,  10.) 

Thus  the  Church  and  people  of  God  are  united  in  one  body,  and  in 
one  Spirit,  and  enjoy  the  mutual  benefits  of  one  consecrated  and  united 
interest  and  inheritance  in  all  good  things,  whether  temporal  or  spiritual. 
And  all  those  who  yield  to  the  truth  of  God,  impelled  by  the  same  Spirit, 
know  nothing  better  to  do  with  all  they  have  and  are,  than  to  give  all  up 
to  God,  to  be  enjoyed  by  his  people  ;  for  this  is  according  to  the  genu- 
ine operation  of  the  one  Spirit  of  Christ,  as  it  is  written  ;  "Inasmuch 
as  ye  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  to  me."  (Matt,  xxv.  40.)  This  fulfills  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
by  the  prophet,  to  his  Church,  in  the  day  when  her  deliverance  should 
come.  "  Arise  and  thresh,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ;  for  I  will  make  thine 
horn  iron,  and  I  will  make  thy  hoofs  brass  ;  and  thou  shaltbeat  in  pieces 
many  people  :  and  I  will  consecrate  their  gain  unto  the  Lord,  and  their 
substance  unto  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth."     (Mic.  iv.  13.) 

The  world  have  no  such  union,  neither  can  have,  because  they  are 
governed  by  a  different  principle,  incapable  of  producing  it ;  not  a 
principle  of  purity  in  the  Spirit,  but  a  fleshly  principle  of  lust,  as  it  is 
written  :  "  All  that  is  in  the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the 
eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life,  is  not  of  the  Father,  but  is  of  the  world." 
(IJno.ii.  16.)  God  is  Spirit;  andwhenmanfellfrom  God,  he  fell  from 
the  Spirit  into  the  flesh ;  hence  the  flesh  is  considered  as  being  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  Spirit.  God  is  love ;  and  therefore  when  man  fell  from  God, 
he  fell  out  of  love  into  lust.  The  love  of  God  unites,  but  the  lust  of  the 
flesh  separates  and  divides.  "  From  whence  come  wars  and  fightings 
among  you  ?  come  they  not  hence,  even  of  your  lusts  that  war  in  your 
members  .?"  (Jas.  iv.  1.)  The  world  therefore  cannot  live  in  Gospel 
union  ;  jealousies  and  divisions  arise  too  easily,  because  they  are  in  the 
flesh,  and  walk  asmen,thatis, in  the  fleshlyfallen  nature  of  men.  "For 
whereas  there  is  among  you  envying,  and  strife,  and  divisions,  are  ye 
not  carnal  and  walk  as  men."  (1  Cor.  iii.  3.) 

To  avoid  these  things  therefore  as  much  as  possible,  and  partake 
such  comfort  as  Esau's  portion  {the  earth)  affords,  the  world  find  it 
expedient  to  keep  a  convenient  distance  apart,  at  least  so  far,  that 
every  one  can  have  his  own  moiety  separate  and  unmixed  with  that  of 
his  neighbour,  or  even  his  brother.  And  if  at  any  time,  two  or  more 
remain  in  conjunction  for  a  time,  it  is  on  the  principle  of  each  one  ad- 
vancing his  individual  profit  better  than  in  any  other  method,  still 
keeping  the  dividing  line  marked.  And  whatever  small  digressions 
from  this  general  state  of  things,  may  happen  in  a  few  instances,  these 
do  no  honour  to  the  profession  of  Christianity,  and  are  no  proof  of  the 
reality  of  those  who  profess  it ;  for  those  who  make  no  pretence  to  the 
profession,  and  some  of  them  not  even  to  the  belief  of  it  at  all,  equal, 
if  they  do  not  exceed,  the  boldest  professors  among  the  denominations 
of  reputed  Christians.     This  proves  that  all  that  these  professors  havo 


UNITED    INHERITANCE.  269 

gotten,  falls  short  of  tlie  mark  ;  because  it  can  be  equalled,  and  in 
many  instances,  exceeded,  by  men  wbo  do  not  pretend  to  be  influenced 
by  any  thing  more  than  natural  reason. 

Thus  father  and  son  must  divide,  as  soon  as  one,  particularly  the 
latter,  concludes  it  is  for  his  individual  advantage.  Brother  and 
brother  must  part,  lest  one  should  oppress  the  other,  or  take  some 
undue  advantage  of  him :  or  perhaps  their  families  are  in  danger  of 
disagreeing — their  love  is  warmest  at  a  distance.  Professors  and  their 
brother  professors  must  be  apart ;  and  count  it  a  great  matter,  if  they 
live  in  one  neighbourhood  and  have  no  jars  ;  and  perhaps  boast  of  what 
brotherly  love  is  among  them — that  they  love  their  brethren  as  them- 
selves. But  let  them  come  into  contact ;  let  them  take  each  other's 
property,  and  minister  it  to  their  families,  indiscriminately,  as  every 
one  hath  need  ;  or  let  one  come  to  another,  and  ask  favoui's  of  value 
from  day  to  day,  and  say  nothing  of  any  retribution  ;  or  let  them 
enter  into  a  stipulation  to  be  thus  liberal  and  disinterested  with  each 
other,  and  the  scale  will  soon  be  turned ;  jealousies  will  arise,  and  all 
their  Christianity  cannot  prevent  them. 

Or  if  professed  Christians  are  able  to  come  together  and  inherit 
jointly,  and  so  prove  in  fact,  that  they  possess  the  character  of  Christ's 
disciples,  or  body,  in  having  love  one  to  another,  and  having  the  same 
care  one  of  another,  why  do  they  not  put  it  into  practice,  and  so  do 
honour  to  their  profession,  and  wipe  off  reproach  from  the  name  of 
Christianity .?  Or  will  they  presume  to  say,  that  their  love  is  sufficient 
in  strength  to  overcome  every  barrier,  and  bring  them  together,  and 
keep  them  so  ;  but  it  is  not  so  great  as  to  render  such  a  situation  de- 
sirable .?  Many  have  acknowledged  that  it  is  the  true  and  proper 
order  of  Christians,  and  that  possessing  separately  is  selfish  and  cor- 
rupt. Some  have  tried  it  in  vain.  Others  have  acknowledged  it  to 
be  the  most  comfortable  and  proper  method  of  living,  and  some  even 
of  those  who  profess  no  Christianity.  But  how  shall  it  be  effectuated  ? 
No  human  wisdom — no  philosophy — no  philanthropy — no  degree  or 
order  of  godliness,  short  of  crucifying  the  flesh  with  its  affections  and 
lusts,  each  one  denying  himself,  taking  up  his  cross,  renouncing  the 
old  generation  and  following  Christ  in  the  regeneration,  can  ever  lay 
a  proper  foundation  for  this  union.  Now  when  a  man  is  not  as  wil- 
ling that  his  brother  should  use  his  property,  as  he  is  to  use  it  himself, 
in  the  same  circumstances,  he  cannot  be  said  to  love  his  brother  as 
himself.  But  the  members  of  Christ's  body  have  the  same  care  one 
of  another.  And  whether  one  member  suffer,  all  the  members  suffer 
with  it ;  or  one  member  be  honoured,  all  the  members  rejoice  with  it. 
(1  Cor.  xii.  26.) 

Any  people  may  live  in  a  manner  esteemed  peaceable,  in  their 
towns  and  neighbourhoods,  each  one  pursuing  with  eagerness,  those 
measures  which  he  thinks  best  calculated  to  subserve  his  own  selfish 
purposes,  and  saying  to  his  neighbour.  Touch  not  mine,  and  I  will  not 
touch  thine  :  aad  if  occasion  require,  they  can  call  on  the  civil  au- 
thority to  settle  their  disputes.  But  if  the  followers  of  Christ  do  not 
exhibit  a  union,  superior  to  any  thing  found  among  other  people,  how 
shall  all  men  know  them  by  their  love  one  to  another  ? 

That  the  primitive  believers,  at  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  after- 
wards, did  exhibit  the  most  incontestable  evidence  of  their  love  one 


270  UNITED    INHERITANCE. 

to  another,  when  they  were  of  one  heart  and  one  soul,  haying  all 
things  common,  and  dividing  their  substance  as  every  one  had  need, 
and  that  this  love  was  superior  to  any  love  or  union  found  among  any 
other  people,  no  man  of  understanding  and  truth  will  pretend  to  deny. 
And  by  parity  of  reason  it  will  be  granted,  that  where  the  same  love 
and  union  are  found,  there  the  same  Spirit  rules. 

At  this  instant^  the  same  essential  and  distinguishing  characteristics, 
once  exhibited  by  the  primitive  believers,  are  exhibited  by  the  believers 
of  the  present  day,  who  have  received  the  faith  of  Christ's  second  ap- 
pearing. Hundreds !  yea,  thousands  in  America,  happy  land  of  liberty, 
live  together  in  large  families,  to  the  number  of  thirty,  forty,  and 
sometimes  sixty  or  more,  like  brethren  and  sisters,  or  like  a  company 
of  harmless  lambs.  And  a  number  of  such  families  form  societies, 
and  live  in  peace  and  harmony,  bound  together  by  no  other  bond  than 
that  of  love.  On  what  principle  can  such  a  work  be  effected,  except 
that  superior  love  of  the  Gospel  which  influenced  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, by  a  divine  unction,  to  become  of  one  heart  and  one  soul } 

At  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  afterwards,  there  were  Jews,  Greeks, 
Barbarians,  bond  and  free,  bound  together  by  the  bonds  of  love,  visibly 
manifested  by  union  and  agreement,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  be- 
holders. Here  are  the  same  visible  works  of  that  superior  love,  mani- 
fested in  colours  equally  striking.  Here  we  find  people,  in  large  col- 
lections, living  in  peace  and  harmony  ;  people  brought  up  in  different 
countries  ;  naturally  different  in  their  dispositions ;  different  in  their 
educations,  their  manner  of  living,  their  plans  of  economy,  their  de- 
grees of  industry  and  degrees  of  wealth ;  naturally  covetous,  proud  and 
self-willed,  tenacious  of  their  own  plans,  and  possessed  of  every  other 
disposition  which  prompts  the  children  of  men  to  hatred,  variance,  and 
the  perpetration  of  evil  actions.  How  are  these  fashioned  alike  .''  On 
what  principle  are  they  united  .''  Let  conscience  answer,  and  it  will 
say — Oil  no  other  than  the  present  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  the  one  and 
only  true  God.  This  is  the  work  which  carries  the  palm.  And  we 
may  victoriously  say  of  it — "  Where  is  the  wise  man  ?  Where  is  the 
scribe  .'  Where  is  the  disputer  of  this  world  ?  Hath  not  God  made 
foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world  }  For  after  that  in  the  wisdom  of 
God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the 
foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe.  For  the  Jews  re- 
quire a  sign,  [and  so  do  our  nominal  professors,]  and  the  Greeks  seek 
wisdom  ;  but  we  preach  Christ  crucified,  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling- 
block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness  ;  but  to  those  who  are  called, 
both  jews  and  Greeks,  Christ  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of 
God."  This  then  is  the  work  in  which  the  wisdom  of  their  wise  men 
shall  perish,  and  the  understanding  of  their  prudent  men  shall  be  hid. 
(See  Isa.  xxix.  14;  compare  1  Cor.  i.  18-24.) 

If  people,  therefore,  in  these  days  demand  a  miracle,  here  it  is  ;  a 
work,  even  a  marvellous  work,  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature, 
contrary  to  it,  and  which  cannot  proceed  from  any  other  source  than 
the  present  agency  and  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  in  his  own 
living  temple — a  miracle  which  cannot  be  imitated — of  a  spiritual 
nature — an  abiding  miracle,  containing  the  essence  of  the  Gospel  of 
the  kingdom  of  God — a  miracle  confessedly  superior  to  all  miracles 
of  another  kind.     "  Charity  never  faileth ;  but  whether  there  be  pro- 


UNITED    INHERITANCE.  271 

phecies  they  stall  fail ;  wlietlier  there  be  tongues  they  shall  cease  ; 
whether  there  be  knowledge  it  shall  vanish  away — and  now  abideth 
faith,  hope,  charity,  these  three  ;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  charity." 
(1  Cor.  xiii.  8-13.) 

It  is  a  question  with  some  whether  the  Spirit  of  Christ  leads  to  so 
great  a  union  as  to  possess  a  united  interest  in  all  things,  as  well  out- 
ward as  spiritual ;  or  whether  it  is  necessary  to  practise  such  a  union 
to  be  Christians  indeed  ?  This  question  can  exist  in  that  heart  only 
where  selfishness  prevails  above  every  other  principle  ;  for  out  of  the 
abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh ;  and  where  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  prevails  it  says,  Look  not  every  one  to  his  own  things,  but  every 
one  also  to  the  things  of  another. 

But  the  very  existence  of  such  a  union  proves  it  to  be  of  God,  and 
in  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  For  fact  proves  principle  ;  or,  the  existence 
of  any  effect  proves  the  existence  of  the  cause  producing  it.  And  the 
existence  of  any  effect  which  cannot  be  produced  by  any  cause  save 
one,  proves  invariably  the  existence  of  that  cause.  But  it  is  proved, 
in  fact,  that  such  a  connection  in  a  united  interest  cannot  be  supported 
by  any  cause  separate  and  distinct  from  the  Spirit  of  Christ  dwelling 
and  acting  in  the  people  who  are  thus  united.  Yet  such  a  connection 
does  exist  in  a  united  interest ;  it  therefore  proves  the  agency  and  in- 
dwelling of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  that  this  union  is  according  to  the 
mind  of  Christ,  and  proceeds  from  him  as  his  own  work. 

A  candid  attention,  however,  to  a  few  portions  of  Scripture,  in  ad- 
dition to  those  already  considered,  will  sufl&ciently  dissipate  all  doubts 
on  that  point.  Jesus  said  :  "  There  is  no  man  who  hath  left  houses,  or 
brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands, 
for  my  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive  an  hundred-fold  now 
in  this  time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers,  and  chil- 
dren, and  lands,  with  persecutions,  and  in  the  world  to  come,  eternal 
life."  (Mark  x.  29, 30.)  But  how  can  they  who  forsake  all  for  Christ's 
sake  and  the  Gospel's,  receive  a  hundred-fold  in  this  present  time,  ex- 
cept only  on  the  principle  of  a  united  interest  and  Gospel  equality  ? 
How  could  a  believer  possess  a  hundred-fold  of  houses  and  lands,  ex- 
cept only  on  that  principle  in  which  he  could  possess  all  that  which 
his  brethren  possessed,  while  they  also  possessed  the  same  in  a  united 
capacity  }  For  a  hundred-fold  of  private  interest  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion ;  not  only  in  fact,  but  even  in  theory  ;  common  sense  forbids  it. 

If  any  argue,  that  the  promise  of  Christ  relates  to  the  superior  de- 
gree of  comfort  enjoyed  in  their  former  relations  and  possessions,  it 
may  be  asked,  Where  is  the  society  of  professors  who  are  not  heard 
to  complain,  murmur  and  fret,  at  their  temporal  inconveniences,  wants, 
losses  and  disappointments,  as  much  as  other  people  .''  Where  are 
the  professed  Christians  who  enjoy  a  hundred-fold  more  comfort, 
union  and  peace  with  their  kindred  .'  And  if  they  do  not,  according 
to  their  own  method  of  reasoning,  it  is  either  because  Christ  has  not 
been  faithful  to  his  promise,  or  they  have  not  complied  with  his  con- 
ditions by  forsaking  all. 

But  that  such  is  not  the  meaning  of  his  promise  appears  evident  from 
this,  that  when  any  man  forsakes  all  for  Christ's  sake  and  the  Gospel's, 
he  thereby  incurs  the  enmity  of  his  kindred.  "  Think  not,  said  Jesus, 
that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth  :  I  came  not  to  send  peace  but 


272  UNITED    INHERITANCE. 

a  sword.  For  I  am  come  to  >set  a  man  at  variance  against  his  father, 
and  the  daughter  against  her  mother,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against 
her  mother-in-law.  And  a  man's  foes  shall  be  those  of  his  own  house- 
hold." ^  (Matt.  X.  34,  35,  36.)  This  shows  that  to  forsake  all  for 
Christ  is  something  real,  not  in  word  and  in  tongue,  but  in  work  and 
in  truth,  something  manifest  to  the  family  and  kindred,  which  engages 
their  resentment ;  and  therefore,  that  the  brethren,  and  sisters,  and 
mothers,  and  children,  as  well  as  houses  and  lands,  are  not  according  to 
the  old  order  at  all,  but  according  to  the  order  of  Christ,  whose  kindred 
are  those  who  do  the  will  of  his  Father  in  heaven :  Accordingly,  the 
promise  includes  no  wife,  though  the  forsaking  does ;  and  for  this  plain 
reason,  that  the  works  which  are  appropriate  to  a  wife,  according  to 
the  old  order,  have  no  part  in  Christ :  their  place  is  not  found  with 
him.  But  farther :  How  can  any  be  said  to  forsake  all  for  Christ's 
sake  and  the  Gospel's  while  they  continue  to  hold  them  as  formerly, 
at  their  individual  disposal,  and  while  there  is  no  discoverable  differ- 
ence between  their  claim  to  the  same  kind  of  possessions,  and  the 
same  claim  in  those  who  make  no  pretence  to  have  forsaken  all  for 
Christ .? 

These  things  show  what  the  truth  is  :  that  those,  and  those  only, 
who  have  forsaken  all,  according  to  the  true  order  of  the  Gospel,  can 
and  do  enjoy  a  hundred-fold  more  satisfaction  than  formerly,  and  that 
there  is  no  way  in  which  a  man  can  forsake  houses  and  lands,  brethren 
and  sisters,  father  and  mother,  and  at  the  same  time  receive  a  hun- 
dred-fold, according  to  the  promise  of  Christ,  but  by  renouncing  his 
former  selfish  disposition  and  claim,  in  heart  and  practice^  with  all  the 
gratifications  pertaining  to  that  claim,  and  coming  into  a  union  in 
which  what  is  possessed  by  an  individual  is  possessed  by  the  whole  ;  so 
that  a  just  and  impartial  equality  reigns  among  the  whole,  and  the  rich 
and  the  poor  share  an  equal  and  mutual  privilege.  Granting,  there- 
fore, that  the  promise  in  consideration  is  expressed  in  language  some- 
what figurative,  it  admits  and  requires  an  acceptation  as  literal  as  can 
be  expected  in  representing  spiritual  things  by  natural. 

Another  passage  of  Scripture  which  will  not  admit  any  acceptation 
except  such  as  supports  the  faith  of  a  union  of  interest,  and  is  as  free 
from  figure  in  itself  and  in  its  connection  as  perhaps  any  language  can 
be,  is  this  :  "  It  remaineth,  that  both  they  that  have  wives  be  as  though 
they  had  none  ;  and  they  that  weep  as  though  they  wept  not ;  and 
they  that  rejoice  as  though  they  rejoiced  not ;  and  they  that  buy  as 
though  they  possessed  not ;  and  they  that  use  this  world  as  not  abus- 
ing it ;  for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away."  ( 1  Cor.  vii.  29-31 . ) 
How  can  this  Scripture  be  fulfilled  in  any  people  except  those  in  whom 
a  union  of  interest  subsists,  and  an  impartial  equality  reigns  }  How 
can  a  man  buy  and  be  as  though  he  possessed  not,  and  the  fashion  of 
this  world  pass  away  when  he  buys  for  himself,  distinctly  from  his 
brethren.^  or  to  hold  at  his  own  individual  disposal.^  for  though  he 
should  be  somewhat  liberal  in  the  use  of  his  possession,  it  is  all  within 
the  compass  of  the  fashion  of  this  world. 

Some  argue  that  the  Apostle  had  respect  to  the  state  of  men  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  body.  But  what  concern  have  disembodied 
spirits  with  buying  and  selling }  or  with  using  this  world .'  And  if  the 
argument  be  stated  thus,  that  those  who  now  buy  will  then  be  as  though 


UNITED    INHERITANCE.  273 

they  possessed  not ;  that  is  not  what  is  said  ;  and  his  meaning  is  best 
known  by  what  he  said.  It  also  represents  the  Apostle's  language 
weak  and  futile,  to  make  him  say  of  those  in  a  world  of  spirits  that  they 
are  as  though  they  possessed  not,  when  it  cannot  be  said  they  either 
use  or  possess  this  world  in  any  sense  whatever.  Besides,  the  reason 
annexed  for  that  state  of  things  which  the  Apostle  describes  is  by  no 
means  favourable  to  its  having  its  accomplishment  in  the  disembodied 
state  ;  not  because  we  go  out  of  the  world,  but, /or  the  fashion  of  this 
world  passeth  away. 

Now,  the  fashion,  the  known  fashion,  of  this  world  is,  for  those  who 
have  wives  to  be  as  though  they  have  them,  using  them  in  that  which 
it  would  be  unlawful  and  unjustifiable  to  make  common ;  for  those 
who  buy  to  possess,  and  be  as  though  they  possessed,  holding  their 
possessions  as  their  peculiar  right;  and  for  those  who  use  the  things 
of  this  world  to  do  it  according  to  their  own  pleasure,  without  proper 
regard  to  the  fear  of  God  and  the  promotion  of  his  cause.  Whereas 
in  the  Church  of  God,  those  who  come  into  union,  if  they  have  wives, 
with  Peter,  they  forsake  them,  and  no  longer  make  any  use  of  them 
which  would  be  unjustifiable  in  any  case.  So  that  they  are  literally 
as  though  they  had  none.  And  in  them  is  fulfilled  the  Scripture 
which  says:  "Marriage  is  honourable  in  all,  and  the  bed  undefiled;" 
because  they  abstain  most  rigidly  from  all  works  pertaining  to  mar- 
riage which  are  dishonourable,  (according  to  the  practical  testimony 
of  all  people,  by  their  concealment,)  and  which  alone  ever  defiled  the 
marriage  bed.  And  this  is  the  only  admissible  acceptation  of  that 
Scripture;  because  it  is  manifest  from  the  law  that  no  married  Jew 
kept  his  bed  undefiled. 

Also,  in  the  Church,  those  who  buy  are  as  though  they  pos- 
sessed not ;  because  they  only  possess  in  common  with  their 
brethren,  and  claim  no  private  property ;  as  having  nothing,  yet 
possessing  all  things.  "  Charity  seeketh  not  her  own — Let  no 
man  seek  his  own,  but  every  man  that  of  another."  For  the 
man  who  has  forsaken  all  for  Christ  has  taken  up  his  cross 
and  followed  him,  and  has  found  that  treasure  which  is  with 
Christ,  and  endures  to  eternal  life  in  heaven,  is  not  careful,  or 
even  willing,  to  inherit  any  separate  treasure  or  estate,  either 
real  or  personal.  Nevertheless,  it  is  not  the  faith  nor  practice 
of  the  Chvirch  to  require  any  man  or  people  to  make  a  sacrifice 
or  surrender  of  their  temporal  interest  to  the  common  use  of  the 
society,  contrary  to  their  own  faith  and  best  understanding.  It  is 
only  the  practice  of  those  whose  faith  it  is  so  to  do  ;  who  have 
maturely  considered  the  subject,  and  believe  such  sacrifice  and 
united  inheritance  to  be  for  the  honour  of  God  and  his  Gospel, 
as  well  as  for  their  own  best  interest :  because  they  desire  to  in- 
herit substance.  Until  their  faith  is  thus  ripe  for  a  united  inter- 
est, believers  are  admitted  to  a  free  privilege  in  things  spiritual, 
their  separate  interest  notwithstanding. 

Again  :  if  in  the  order  of  a  united  interest  in  Christ,  they  use  the 
things  of  this  world,  that  is,  material  things,  they  do  it  to  the  noble  and 
superior  purpose  of  subserving  the  work  of  God  in  Christ,  to  the  edifi- 
cation of  his  Church.  "  Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do, 
19 


274  UNITED    INHERITANCE. 

do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  This,  therefore,  is  using  so  as  not  abus- 
ing. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  we  conclude  that  this  language  of  the  Apos- 
tle is  properly  descriptive  of  a  time  and  work  which  should  take  place 
on  earth,  when  God,  according  to  his  promise,  should  create  new  hea- 
vens and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness. 

A  consideration  of  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth,  may  serve  as  a 
farther  confirmation  and  illustration  of  the  order  of  the  Church  in  a  unit- 
ed interest.  For  what  can  mean  these  new  heavens  and  new  earth, 
but  a  new  state  and  order  of  things,  both  in  outward  things,  and  in 
things  relating  to  the  Spirit.  Or  will  any  be  so  weak  as  to  suppose 
they  mean  the  literal  creation  of  another  heaven  and  earth.?  Or  if  this 
language  be  supposed  to  relate  to  a  time  and  state  of  things  when  all 
shall  be  heaven,  and  the  earth  put  out  of  the  account,  what  then  is  the 
meaning  of  the  new  earth  ? 

But  the  truth  may  be  illustrated  in  this  particular,  by  the  case  of  a 
man  in  Christ.  He  is  said  to  be  a  new  creature  ;  not  because  there  is 
any  change  in  the  identity  of  his  existence  ;  he  is  the  same  person  as 
before,  having  the  same  soul  and  body.  The  change  is  not  physical ; 
he  has  new  objects  and  pursuits,  is  converted  from  the  flesh  to  the  Spirit, 
from  the  old  order  of  things  in  Adam,  to  the  new  order  in  Christ,  having 
renounced  and  put  off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  which  are  corrupt 
according  to  the  deceitful  lusts,  and  put  on  the  new  man,  who,  after 
God,  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  So  when  Christ 
shall  possess  that  kingdom  on  earth  which  is  promised,  and  every  indi- 
vidual in  it  shall  be  thus  renewed,  such  a  happy  change  in  spirit  will 
be  produced,  and  as  the  effect  thereof,  in  outward  economy,  as  is  fitly 
represented  by  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth.  For  it  cannot  reason- 
ably be  doubted  by  those  who  believe  the  Scriptures  and  pay  due  re- 
spect to  them,  that  such  a  state  and  order  of  things  must  and  will  take 
place  after  the  reign  of  the  beast  is  finished — when  the  sanctuary  is 
cleansed,  and  when  the  kingdom,  and  the  dominion,  and  the  greatness 
of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people 
of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.     But  once  more : 

Another  promise  is,  '■'■He  thai  overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things.'''' 
This  promise  is  also  made  to  every  individual  overcomer  ;  and  there- 
fore shows  that  a  joint  union  and  equality  is  the  very  order  of  heaven 
itself,  and  is  the  true  character  and  proper  order  of  that  kingdom  for 
which  Christ  taught  his  disciples  to  pray,  in  which  the  will  of  God  is 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  For,  short  of  such  a  state  of  things, 
no  true  distinction  can  be  made  between  the  false  prophets  and  the 
true,  or  between  the  wolves  and  the  sheep  j  neither  can  there  be  a  true 
distinction  between  the  churches  of  Antichrist  and  the  Church  of 
Christ. 

Thus  we  have  stated,  in  some  leading  particulars,  the  true  character 
of  the  Church,  or  body  of  Christ,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  have 
shown  the  evidences  by  which  they  are  to  be  certainly  known  and  dis- 
tino-uished  from  all  other  people,  which  consist  of  love  and  union  not 
to  be  imitated  or  counterfeited.  No  doubt  many  of  the  carnally  wise 
and  learned  among  the  professing  world,  will  sneer  at  this  evidence  and 
these  statements,  as  being  inferior  and  trivial ;  because  out  of  the  line 


UNITED    INHERITANCE.  275 

of  their  high  sense  and  exalted  notions  of  Christianity,  according  to 
their  own  minds,  and  not  according  to  Christ.  But  the  city  of  God's 
people  is  low,  in  a  low  place,  and  the  inhabitants  are  meek  and  lowly 
in  their  spirits ;  let  those,  therefore,  who  are  disposed  to  sneer  and  con- 
temn, cease  from  so  doing,  until  they  can  disprove  by  experience  the 
evidence  here  stated. 

It  is  here  stated  that  a  Gospel  union  and  mutual  interest,  with  an  im- 
partial equaUty,  reigns  at  this  instant  among  the  believers  who  have 
the  faith  of  the  second  appearing  of  Christ ;  and  it  is  proved  by  Scrip- 
ture testimony,  in  conjunction  with  plain  reason,  as  clearly  as  any  un- 
biassed man  can  ask,  to  be  the  effect  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  in  the  Gos- 
pel, and  the  necessary  product  of  that  Spirit,  without  which  there  can 
be  no  true  Church.  It  is  also  stated  that  this  inimitable  love  and  union 
are  miraculous,  in  the  most  noble  sense  of  the  word,  as  being  superior 
to  all  philosophy,  philanthropy,  or  any  other  science  or  order  of  know- 
ledge, exclusive  of  the  M'isdom  of  God  by  the  cross,  and  as  being  truly 
spiritual,  and  comprehending  the  very  essence  and  treasure  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  therefore  evincing  the  present  agency  and  indwelling  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  If  this  consequence  be  denied  by  those  who  scoff,  let 
them  prove  by  experiment,  that  the  same  consequences,  that  is,  the 
same  love  and  union,  with  the  same  united  interests,  can  be  produced 
from  some  other  source.  Until  that  is  effected,  they  will  leave  us  and 
all  judicious  men  in  possession  of  this  faith,  that  the  above  premises 
and  conclusions  have  their  foundation  in  that  immoveable  rock.  Truth. 

I  shall  therefore  close  this  subject  with  removing  an  objection  or  two. 
The  first  is — That  other  people  live  in  common  interest  and  joint  union 
as  well  as  we.  And  particularly  the  monastic  orders  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  have  been  alleged  as  an  example,  equally  evidential 
of  the  faith  of  Christ,  on  the  score  of  unity  of  spirit  and  community  of 
interest.  I  have  no  dispute  in  my  mind,  but  some  may  obtain,  partially, 
the  order  of  the  Church  of  Christ  by  possessing,  partially,  the  same  form 
of  faith.  And  whatever  is  found  to  possess  any  part  of  the  truth  of  God, 
ought  so  far  to  be  approved ;  and  where  there  is  an  increase  of  light, 
producing  an  increase  of  order  and  good  fruits,  it  is  still  more  hopeful. 
But  to  produce  good  fruits  in  perfection,  a  full  and  correct  faith  is  re- 
quisite. No  doubt  every  man  will  find  a  measure  of  justification,  in 
proportion  to  the  honesty  and  perseverance  with  which  he  bears  his 
cross  against  all  evil  in  his  knowledge,  and  denies  himself,  for  the 
truth's  sake.  And  if  the  Catholic  monastic  orders  retain  something  of 
the  form  of  godliness,  from  the  apostolic  dispensation,  [as  no  doubt  they 
do,  and  are  almost  the  only  Church  that  can  exhibit  plausible  evidence 
for  such  a  pretension,]  that  circumstance  cannot  disannul  the  propriety 
of  the  order  of  the  true  Church,  nor  invalidate  its  testimony  wherever  it 
is  found  ;  neither  can  it  prove  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  or  their  mo- 
nastic orders,  to  be  in  equal  possession  of  the  truth  and  unity  of  the 
Spirit  with  the  believers  in  Christ's  second  appearing,  unless  the  fruits 
of  the  former  be,  in  all  things,  equal  to  those  of  the  latter,  when  all  at- 
tending circumstances  and  apparent  hindrances  are  taken  into  the  ac- 
count. It  still  remains  true  that  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit ;  and 
that  the  existence  of  an  effect,  which  can  subsist  by  one  cause  only, 
proves  the  existence  of  that  cause. 

But  the  Roman  monastic  orders  bear  a  very  distant  resemblance  in- 


276  UNITED    INHERITANCE. 

deed  to  the  believers  in  Christ's  second  appearing.  They  are  a  select 
number,  professing  greater  sanctity  than  the  Church  in  general,  and 
consequently  greater  than  is  indispensably  necessary  to  salvation  ;  for 
they  do  not  dispute  the  justice  of  the  hope  of  salvation  in  those  mem- 
bers of  the  body  who  are  not  monks  and  nuns.  But  these  believers  as- 
pire to  no  more  sanctity  than  that  vs^hich  is  sufficient  to  perfect  salva- 
tion or  full  redemption,  knowing  no  perfect  salvation  short  of  a  full 
and  perfect  cross.  Those  are  an  excepted  and  dependent  branch  of  the 
body,  supported  mainly  by  the  gratuities  and  other  contributions  of  the 
Church.  These  support  themselves  by  their  own  industry,  working 
with  their  own  hands,  doing  the  thing  which  is  good,  to  satisfy  their 
own  necessities,  and  to  have  something  to  give  to  those  who  need. 
Those  are  free  from  the  incumbrance  of  wife,  husband  or  children,  to 
embarrass  the  mind  in  their  first  entrance.  These  include  all  classes  of 
people,  married  and  unmarried,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor,  who  are 
wrilling  to  have  salvation  by  the  cross  of  Christ.  Those  are  bound  by 
oath  or  solemn  vow  to  maintain  their  life  of  celibacy.  These  have  no 
bond  but  their  faith  and  choice,  or  love  to  the  truth.  Those  are  patro- 
nized by  public  approbation  and  authority  ;  while  these  are  marked  out 
as  enemies  to  mankind,  and  dangerous  to  society.  But  v/ith  the  faith 
and  power  which  those  have,  let  them  attempt,  like  these,  to  unite  into 
one  body,  and  advance  with  the  same  celerity  ;  let  them  include  in 
their  community  of  interest,  the  old  and  the  young,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  married  and  the  unmarried  ;  let  them  bring  into  one,  whole 
families  with  their  various  wants,  and  other  diversities  of  situation  ; 
and  let  parents  labour  equally  for  the  support  of  the  children  of  others 
as  for  their  own,  so  that  things  may  appear  in  their  true  effects,  and 
they  will  find  themselves  as  weak  as  other  people. 

But  another  objection  or  difficulty  may  be  advanced ;  that  to  come 
into  this  order  of  common  interest,  to  dispose  of  family  and  property 
in  this  manner,  intermingling  in  the  common  mass,  with  an  unknown 
people,  their  manner  and  spirit  also  greatly  unknown,  is  too  great  a 
sacrifice  ;  God  cannot  require  it.  But  God  requires  all ;  for,  said 
Jesus,  "  Whosoever  he  be  of  you,  who  doth  not  forsake  all  that  he 
hath,  cannot  be  my  disciple."  (Luke  xiv.  33.)  Yet  not  unreasona- 
hly,  as  I  have  just  stated  above,  that  it  is  the  faith  of  believers  so  to 
do,  and  that  one  side  of  such  faith,  there  is  no  requisition  of  that 
kind.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  people  in  common  circumstances 
will  unite  with  them  at  all,  unless  moved  by  the  faith  that  these  have 
the  truth,  and  know  the  way  of  salvation ;  neither  is  it  required  or 
expected  of  any,  to  undertake  any  degree  of  community  of  interest 
heyond  what  their  own  faith  approves,  and  their  own  understanding 
and  choice  sanction.  Accordingly,  some  live  more  years,  and  some 
fewer,  in  their  private  families  and  private  interest ;  and  still  hold 
their  union  to  the  body,  keep  their  justification,  and  find  salvation 
from  sin  in  proportion  as  they  keep  an  eifectual  and  uniform  cross 
against  all  sin  in  their  knowledge.  But  the  testimony  of  Christ's 
second  appearing  excels  in  this,  that  it  effectuates  the  gathering  into 
one,  those  whose  faith  is  to  come  into  that  heavenly  order — the  unity 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace. 


THE    MAN    OF    SIN.  277 


CHAPTER    VII. 

WITHOUT    THE    CROSS    OP    CHRIST,  NO    POWER    OVER    SIN.       THE   ABO- 
MINATION   THAT    MAKETH   DESOLATE,  OR    MAN    OF    SIN. 

Farther  to  elucidate  tlie  true  character  of  the  Churcli  of  Christ, 
and  to  evince  the  impossibility  of  supporting  the  character  without 
being  possessed  of  the  real  faith  of  Christ  in  obedience,  that  is,  the 
impossibility  of  appearing  to  be  Christians,  without  being  so  in  reality, 
let  it  be  considered,  that  the  real  faith  of  Christ  cannot  be  kept  with- 
out bearing  his  cross.  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me."  (Matt.  xvi.  24.) 
He  doth  not  say.  Follow  Adam,  or  Moses,  or  David,  but  follow  me. 

A  fundamental  error  among  those  who  profess  the  Christian  name, 
is  in  not  distinguishing,  properly  and  radically,  between  Christ  and 
Adam,  or  the  old  creation  and  the  new,  and  between  Christ  and 
Moses,  or  the  law  and  the  Gospel.  Therefore,  in  stating  the  charac- 
ter and  duty  of  Christians,  they  are  as  likely,  if  not  more  so,  to  intro- 
duce those  things  which  pertain  to  the  law,  or  to  the  first  Adam,  as 
those  which  belong  to  Christ  and  his  followers.  This  error  is  the 
supporter  of  many  more.  But  the  Scriptures  make  it  evident,  that 
the  order  of  Christ  is  not  the  order  of  the  old  creation,  in  any  pf  its 
different  forms,  insomuch  that  those  who  follow  Christ  are  no  more  of 
this  world.  "  They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the 
world."  (Jno.  xvii.  16.)  Those  who  follow  Christ,  follow  him  not  in 
the  generation,  but  in  the  regeneration.  "  The  first  man  is  of  the 
earth,  earthy  ;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven.  As  is  the 
earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy ;  and  as  is  the  heavenly, 
such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly."   (1  Cor.  xv.  47,  48.) 

Now  a  proper  understanding  of  the  order,  cross  and  work  of  Christ, 
will  greatly  assist  in  discriminating  between  the  body  of  Christ  and 
other  people.  Some  particulars  have  been  already  stated,  relating  to 
the  order  of  Christ,  by  which  his  people  are  distinguished  from  others, 
as  their  exemption  from  sin,  and  the  manifestation  of  their  love  and 
union.  But  as  every  effect  must  have  its  cause,  it  will  not  be  impro- 
per to  inquire,  and  assign  some  reasons,  why  no  people  can  live  in  the 
same  union  of  the  Spirit,  except  those  who  believe  that  Christ  has 
made  his  second  appearance. 

It  was  predicted  and  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  that  the  power  of 
the  holy  people  would  be  scattered,  and  that  the  abomination  of  desola- 
tion, spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  prophet,  would  stand  in  the  holy  place. 
Now  if  it  can  be  found  that  the  abomination  of  desolation  is  standing 
where  it  ought  not,  we  shall  have  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  faith 
and  participation  of  the  second  appearance  of  Christ  are  necessary  to 
keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace  ;  because  that 
abomination  was  to  remain  in  the  holy  place,  or  temple  of  God,  until 
the  coming  of  the  Lord,  as  already  shown.  So  that  when  the  abomi- 
nation had  once  got  in,  and  obtained  a  possession  where  it  ought  not, 
the  true  order  of  that  holy  place  could  never  be  kept  again,  until  the 


278  THE    MAN    OF    SIN. 

Lord  came,  to  expel  or  to  destroy  it.  It  is  therefore  indispensably 
necessary  that  they  who  are  ahle  to  keep  the  true  order  of  God  should 
possess  the  faith,  and  actually  partake  of  Christ,  in  his  second  appear- 
ing. And  if  it  can  he  shown  what  that  abomination  is,  which  was 
spoken  of  by  Daniel,  and  afterwards  by  Jesus  Christ,  that  will  give 
evidence,  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  views  of  those  who  have  the 
faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearance  ;  and  also,  that  none  can 
keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,  without  the  same 
faith. 

I  have  already  shown,  that  the  Church,  or  people  of  God,  are  his 
temple,  and  that  that  temple  is  holy,  and  a  habitation  of  God  through 
the  Spirit,  as  it  is  written  :  "  Son  of  man,  the  place  of  my  throne,  and 
the  place  of  the  soles  of  my  feet,  where  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  the 
children  of  Israel  forever,  and  my  holy  name  shall  the  house  of  Israel  no 
more  defile.''''  And  again:  "  For  ye  are  the  temple  of  the  living  God; 
as  God  hath  said, — 1  will  dwell  in  them  and  walk  in  them;  and  I  will 
be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people."  (Ezek.  xliii.  7  ;  2  Cor. 
vi.  16.) 

Now,  if  it  can  be  made  appear  what  the  abomination  of  desolation 
is,  that  will  more  clearly  decide,  whether  it  is  now  standing,  and  also 
where  it  stands.  But  that  it  is  now  standing,  is  already  proved;  un- 
less Christ  has  made  his  second  appearance  long  enough  to  consume 
it ;  for  it  was  to  continue  until  he  came.  The  business,  therefore, 
which  remains,  is  to  find  what  is  that  abomination  which  maketh  deso- 
late, and  is  the  cause  why  people  cannot  be  united  in  one  body,  who 
have  not  the  faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing. 

And  1st.  The  first  character  of  that  abomination,  of  which  I  shall 
take  notice  is,  that  it  stands  in  the  holy  place,  where  it  ought  not. 
To  put  any  thing  where  it  ought  not  to  be,  is  corrupt ;  but  to  put 
into  the  holy  place,  or  temple  of  God,  an  unclean  thing,  that  which 
ought  not  to  be  there,  is  supremely  corrupt.  Now,  by  inquiring  into 
the  order  in  which  the  professors  of  Christianity  live,  and  comparing 
it  with  the  order  of  Christ,  we  may  find  what  that  is,  which  keeps  its 
residence  in  the  place  where  it  ought  not,  which  does  not  belong  to  the 
order  of  Christ,  and  yet  resides,  uninterruptedly,  among  the  pro- 
fessors of  his  name,  who  have  not  the  faith  of  his  second  appearing. 
There  are,  at  most,  but  a  few  exceptions  of  those  with  whom  the  same 
Spirit  of  Christ  has  some  influence. 

"  The  children  of  this  world  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage  :  but 
those  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world  and  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead,  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage."  Now  all  the 
true  followers  of  Christ  are  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world 
and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead.  It  is  therefore  proved,  logically, 
and  to  a  demonstration,  that  the  true  followers  of  Christ  neither  marry 
nor  are  given  in  marriage.  Observe,  it  is  not  said.  They  will  not,  as 
at  some  future  period  ;  but  it  is  said  in  the  present  tense.  They  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage.  But  professed  Christians,  of  nearly 
all  denominations,  except  those  in  the  faith  of  Christ's  second  appear- 
ance, marry  and  are  given  in  marriage.  This,  therefore,  affords  a 
lively  presumption,  that  this  same  work  of  marrying  and  being  one 
flesh,  as  a  man  and  his  wife  are,  is  the  very  thing  which  at  least  con- 
tains the  aforesaid   abomination  ;    and  especially   considering,  that 


THE    MAN    OF    SIN.  279 

nothmg  besides  this,  and  what  pertains  to  it,  is  said,  by  the  revelation 
of  God,  to  be  of  the  world,  or  of  the  old  creation,  and  yet  it  is  ap- 
proved by  professed  Christians. 

That  this  is  peculiarly  the  order  of  the  first  Adam  and  his  line,  is 
sufficiently  evident  by  the  very  words  of  the  Scripture  :  "  Therefore 
shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his 
wife  ;  and  they  shall  be  one  flesh."  "  Have  ye  not  read  that  he  who 
made  them  at  the  beginning,  made  them  male  and  female,  and  said, 
For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave 
to  his  wife  :  and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh .?"  (Gen.  ii.  24 ;  Matt, 
xix.  4,  5.)  But  no  such  appointment  was  ever  made  by  God  to  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Father  of  the  new  creation  and  Head  of  the  Church  ;  no 
such  order  or  appointment  was  ever  made  by  Jesus  Christ  to  his 
followers.  And  no  impropriety  can  be  alleged  against  recollecting, 
in  this  place,  the  contrast  between  Christ  Jesus  and  the  first  Adam, 
and  the  consequent  contrast  between  their  posterities.  "The  first 
man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy  ;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven. 
As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy ;  and  as  is  the 
heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly."  If,  therefore,  the 
posterity  of  Adam  are  in  their  proper  order  to  marry,  and  cleave  each 
man  to  his  wife,  and  be  one  flesh  with  her,  after  the  example  of  their 
earthly  head,  by  parity  of  reason,  the  followers,  or  children  of  Christ, 
are  in  their  proper  order  to  marry  not,  after  the  example  of  their 
heavenly  Head,  that  they  may  be  one  Spirit  with  him:  for  "he  that 
is  joined  to  the  Lord  is  one  Spirit."  (1  Cor.  vi.  17.) 

To  introduce  marriage,  therefore,  or  natural  generation  into  the 
Church  of  Christ,  is  to  put  it  out  of  its  own  order,  and  place  it  where 
it  ought  not  to  be.  Marriage  and  natural  generation  are  indisputa- 
bly the  order  of  the-  flesh,  and  of  the  first  Adam ;  and  the  flesh  lust- 
eth  against  the  Spirit ;  therefore,  to  introduce  generation  into  Chris- 
tianity, or  into  the  Church,  is  to  put  into  the  holy  place  that  which 
ought  not  to  be  there  ;  for  the  temple  of  God,  which  is  his  Church, 
is  holy,  as  before  shown. 

2d.  Another  mark  of  the  abomination  is,  that  it  maketh  desolate. 
To  all  those  who  are  able  to  perceive  spiritual  things,  this  is  self-evi- 
dently  true  of  the  order  and  works  of  the  flesh,  that  they  scatter  the 
works  of  holiness,  and  make  all  desolate  wherever  they  find  a  resi- 
dence. But  that  which  is  visible,  as  a  living  evidence  to  all  men,  nat- 
ural as  well  as  spiritual,  is,  that  those  only  who,  walking  in  the  faith 
of  Christ,  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  renounce  the 
order  of  the  flesh  wholly,  are  able  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  bond  of  2^ e ace,  and  to  live  together  in  a  united  interest,  in  things 
temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  :  this  is  a  living  and  perpetuated  proof 
that  the  order  of  the  flesh  is  the  abomination  of  desolation,  or  at  least 
contains  it  as  before  observed. 

3d.  That  which  maketh  desolate,  is  called  an  abomination — some- 
thing hateful  and  to  be  hated.  No  doubt  it  will  be  difficult  to  per- 
suade the  subjects  of  Adam's  line  that  the  order  and  works  of  the 
flesh  are  abominable :  "  They  who  are  according  to  the  flesh,  relish 
the  things  of  the  flesh."  But  on  the  other  hand,  they  who  are  accord- 
ing to  the  Spirit,  savour  the  things  of  the  Spirit ;  and  as  the  flesh  lusteth 
against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh,  it  is  unavoidable, 


280  THE    MAN    OF    SIN. 

that  tlie  flesli  is  an  abomination  to  tlie  Spirit,  and  that  all  the  works 
of  that  fleshly  order  are  an  abomination  to  all  those  in  whom  the 
Spirit  resides ;  "  For  that  which  is  highly  esteemed  among  men  is  an 
abomination  in  the  sight  of  God."  (Luke  xvi.  15.) 

That  the  works  of  the  flesh  are  an  abomination,  all  men  of  common 
decency  bear  witness,  by  scrupulously  concealing  them  ;  and  however 
they  prize  them,  or  marriage,  for  their  sake,  as  that  which  legalizes 
them,  their  estimation,  instead  of  justifying  them,  only  illustrates  the 
truth  of  that  Scripture  which  says.  Their  God  is  their  belly,  and  their 
glory  is  in  their  shame  ;  and  again,  that  it  is  a  shame  to  speak  of  the 
things  lohich  are  done  of  them  in  secret  ;  these  are  literally  those  things. 

4th.  I  conclude  few,  if  any,  deny  that  the  abomination  of  desolation 
is  the  same  with  the  son  of  perdition,  spoken  of  by  Paul ;  not  only 
because  their  works  are  tantamount,  desolation  and  perdition,  but  also 
because  they  are  both  represented  as  having  their  residence  in  the 
same  holy  place,  or  temple  of  God ;  thus  the  entrance  of  each  is  at- 
tended with  the  banishment  of  the  true  worship  of  God,  the  falling 
away  in  the  one  description,  and  the  taking  away  of  the  daily  sacri- 
fice in  the  other.  But  that  this  son  of  perdition,  called  also,  in  the 
same  place,  the  mystery  of  iniquity,  and  that  wicked  or  [Greek]  law- 
less, is  the  order  of  the  flesh,  or  at  least  the  nature  of  that  order,  it 
needs  only  a  mere  statement  to  prove. 

1.  His  first  character  is,  that  he  "  opposeih  and  exalteth  himself 
above  all  thai  is  called  God  or  that  is  worshipped.''''  (2  Thes.  ii.  4.) 
Which  very  naturally  admits  this  acceptation,  that  this  son  of  perdi- 
tion, whatever  it  is,  claims  the  worship  and  estimation  of  all,  in  pre- 
ference to  any  other  God,  or  any  conception  concerning  God.  Now 
observation  and  experiment  prove,  that  this  is  strictly  true  with  the 
order  and  nature  of  the  flesh.  A  man  in  that  order  may  worship 
what  God  he  pleases,  or  have  what  faith  concerning  God  and  his 
worship  he  thinks  most  appropriate  to  his  character,  provided  he 
scrupulously  maintains  an  unrestrained  license  to  the  works  of  nat- 
ural generation. 

Although  some  may  think  the  man  is  wrong,  and  sometimes  try  to 
convince  him  by  argument,  that  is  generally  the  extent ;  he  remains 
in  good  credit,  is  reputed  a  good  citizen,  and,  in  general,  those  of  a 
different  faith  hold  as  great  familiarity  with  him  as  if  his  sentiments 
were  more  congenial  with  their  own.  Thus  professors  of  various  de- 
nominations and  contrary  sentiment,  and  those  who  profess  no  Chris- 
tianity at  all,  nor  even  give  credit  to  the  reality  of  it,  can  live  toge- 
ther in  good  civility,  good  neighbourhood  and  sociality,  as  freely,  in 
most  cases,  as  if  they  all  possessed  one  common  faith.  The  husband, 
also,  or  wife  of  the  unbeliever  may  be  a  professed  Christian  ;  this  dif- 
ference makes  no  material  jar  between  them,  notwithstanding  such 
professors  generally  agree  that  such  unbelievers  are  all  finally  damned. 
This  good  Christian  husband  or  wife  seldom  feels  any  distress  of  mo- 
ment about  his  or  her  unhappy  infidel  companion,  as  long  as  he  or 
she  unfailingly  adheres  to  the  offerings  of  the  flesh.  Thus  thousands 
agree  and  live  in  as  much  peace  as  is  common  among  men,  while 
nothing  is  between  them  of  greater  importance  than  what  they  count  the 
worship  of  God :  but  difference  in  matters  esteemed  of  the  greatest 
consequence  must,  by  parity  of  reason,  produce  the  greatest  disunioa 


THE    MAN    OF    SIN.  281 

and  separation.  Whence  then  this  agreement  amidst  such  diyeraity 
of  sentiment  and  practice  ?  They  all  agree  in  the  chief  matter :  that 
which  demands  the  estimation  of  all  men,  and  stands  superior  to  all  ob- 
jects of  worship. 

But  let  any  man  once  receive  the  faith  of  Christ,  in  the  regenera- 
tion, pud  once  begin  to  testify  and  practice  it,  and  the  sociality  is 
interrupted,  and  especially  with  the  professed  Christians ;  his  wife 
complains  that  he  has  awfully  fallen,  he  has  forsaken  Christ ;  because 
he  has  taken  up  his  cross  against  the  flesh  ;  his  neighbours  say  he  is 
deluded,  they  are  sorry  for  him,  grow  shy  of  him,  and  soon  begin  to 
tell  of  some  evil  he  has  done,  and  wish  him  out  of  the  neighbourhood  ; 
for  they  count  him  a  troublesome  man,  or  a  dead  man  to  them. 
Thus  the  separation  grows  wider  and  wider,  as  soon  as  all  their  efforts 
to  reclaim  him  from  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  regain  him  to  the  flesh, 
are  found  to  be  of  no  avail.  And  what  has  he  done  .''  He  has  deter- 
minately  engaged  in  following  the  footsteps  of  Christ,  and  abstaining 
from  those  things  which  they  will  all  acknowledge  that  Christ  never 
touched,  and  which  they  also  believe  it  would  be  a  base  impeachment 
of  his  character  to  suppose  he  touched  :  therefore  the  man  is  deluded 
and  hath  forsaken  Christ.  These  things  show  the  general  nature  of 
the  consequences  of  a  man  taking  up  his  cross  to  follow  Christ,  though 
the  effects  are  more  violent  on  some  occasions  than  others. 

The  abettors  of  the  flesh  may  object  to  a  thousand  other  matters; 
but  facts  prove  that  no  religious  sentiments  make  any  interruption  of 
moment  amongst  relations  or  neighbours,  so  long  as  the  nature  and 
order  of  the  flesh,  or  works  of  natural  generation,  are  preserved  sacred 
or  inviolate  ;  but  let  a  man  or  woman  take  up  the  cross  of  Christ, 
and  follow  him  in  the  regeneration,  and  the  spirits  are  all  around  up 
in  arms  :  this  shows  that  the  flesh  is  in  higher  estimation  than  any 
other  God.  I  here  speak  of  matters  as  they  exist  in  a  free  govern- 
ment ;  in  those  which  are  incorporated  with  religious  sentiments,  the 
true  source  of  division  might  not  be  so  palpable. 

2.  This  son  of  perdition  also  silteth  in  the  temple  of  God.  This 
has  already  been  shown  to  be  the  case  with  generation. 

3.  He  also  showeth  himself  that  he  is  God.  This  is  also  proved  to 
be  the  case  with  the  generation.  The  people  may  call  it  marriage, 
which  is  considered  as  legalizing  generation ;  which  is  said  to  be 
honourable  in  all,  and  in  its  own  order,  without  abuse,  had  nothing 
evil  in  it ;  but  it  does  not  belong  to  the  order  of  Christ.  The  works, 
also,  to  which  it  is  considered  accessory,  are  dishonourable,  as  it  is 
also  proved  above  ;  for  they  always  blush  at  the  light,  which  honour- 
able and  good  deeds  do  not :  "  He  that  doeth  truth,  cometh  to  the 
light,  that  his  deeds  may  he  made  manifest,  (not  concealed,)  that  they 
are  wrought  in  God."  (Jno.  iii.  21.)  Or  they  may  call  it  the  order 
of  the  flesh,  in  which  are  included  the  correspondent  union  and  co- 
operation of  the  male  and  female,  who  are  one  flesh,  which  in  its  own 
place,  without  abuse,  was  innocent  and  very  good,  but  it  does  not 
belong  to  Christ  or  the  order  of  the  Spirit — God,  therefore,  is 
not  in  it. 

These  remarks  introduce  an  occasion  to  observe,  that  the  evil  is 
not  originally  or  primarily  in  the  order  of  the  flesh,  or  the  correspond- 
ing union  between  the  male  and  female,  but  is  that  nature  of  the  ser- 


282  THE    MAN    OP    SIN. 

pent  received  in  and  by  the  fall,  consisting  in  a  spirit  of  disobedience 
to  God,  and  a  subversion  of  bis  order  and  appointments.  That  nature 
has  its  seat  in  the  flesh,  is  incorporated  with  it,  and  operates  in  its 
order  where  it  chiefly  presides  ;  so  that  the  works  of  the  flesh  are  the 
works  of  that  nature,  which  is  itself  become  the  very  nature  of  the 
flesh.  On  account  of  this  nature  and  its  productions,  the  flesh  is  de- 
generated and  degraded,  even  in  its  own  order,  but  it  is  especially 
inimical  to  Christ  and  the  order  of  the  Spirit.  Add  to  this,  that  the 
order  of  the  flesh,  in  its  best  state,  is  not  the  order  of  Christ,  or  the 
Spirit,  but  much  inferior,  inasmuch  as  the  earthly  man  is  inferior  to 
the  heavenly.  These  things  account  for  the  irreconcilable  contrast 
and  enmity  subsisting  between  the  flesh  and  the  Spirit,  so  abundantly 
confirmed  in  the  Scriptures. 

But  the  flesh,  or  its  order,  by  whatever  name  it  is  called,  has  the 
nature  of  the  serpent  in  it ;  its  works  also  are  every  where  known, 
and  esteemed  by  all  who  approve  them,  as  not  at  all  belonging  to  the 
Christian ;  above  God,  and  Christ,  and  all  things,  as  is  evident  from 
the  fact  that  the  faith  which  rejects  these  works  from  Christianity  is 
more  ofiensive  to  them  than  any  other  faith  which  embraces  or  rejects 
any  thing  else.  As,  therefore,  this  order  of  the  flesh  shows  itself  to 
be  God ;  so  it  is,  in  truth,  God,  even  the  god  of  the  world,  set  up 
in  the  holy  place. 

What  farther  proves  this  to  be  the  god  of  those  who  approve  it,  is 
the  sacred  reserve  with  which  its  works  and  its  nature  are  kept  from 
public  contemplation,  in  being  concealed  not  only  from  the  eyes,  but 
also  from  the  ears.  No  language  is  so  ofl"ensive  as  that  which  repre- 
sents these  things  in  naked  colours.  Now  the  sources  of  unbecoming 
and  offensive  language  are  two.  First :  When  language  communi- 
cates the  ideas  of  thino-s  in  themselves  unbecomino;  and  offensive.  If 
this  IS  the  case  with  the  above  order,  or  its  works,  that  decides  the 
argument,  that  it  is  not  according  to  Christ  or  the  order  of  his  Church  ; 
and  as  it  is  abetted  as  being  innocent  by  the  professed  Church,  and  has 
its  full  and  undisturbed  residence  there,  it  is  hereby  proved  to  be  the 
son  of  perdition,  the  abomination  of  desolation. 

But  if  it  be  argued,  that  language,  descriptive  of  the  works  of  the 
flesh,  is  not  offensive  because  of  any  thing  unbecoming  or  loathsome 
in  them,  its  offensiveness  must  be  attributed  to  the  other  source  of 
offensive  language,  which  is,  The  common  and  irreverent  use  of  lan- 
guage pertaining  to  God,  or  some  character  too  sacred  to  be  named 
in  a  common  or  indifferent  manner.  According  to  this  view,  genera- 
tion is  proved  to  be  a  god,  much  more  sacred  than  any  other,  and  its 
peculiar  names  as  sacred,  at  least,  as-  Jehovah,  the  incommunicable 
name  of  the  true  God,  was  among  the  Jews  ;  for  it  is  experimentally 
true,  that  the  man  who  blasphemes  the  name  of  the  true  God  most 
freely,  is  not  so  odious  and  offensive  to  the  abettors  of  the  flesh, 
as  he  who  uses,  with  unbecoming  freedom,  language  which  expresses 
their  secret  works  ;  those  secret  works  under  the  whole  heavens,  or 
within  the  reach  of  man's  conception,  of  which  it  is  the  greatest 
shame  to  speak. 

It  is  vain  to  plead  that  this  can  be  true  of  illegitimate  actions  only ; 
for  lawful,  or  unlawful,  the  actions  are  the  same,  the  nature  the  same, 
and  language  descriptive  thereof  is  as  offensive  in  the  one  case  as  the 


GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST.  283 

other.  No  doubt,  therefore,  remains  to  the  judicious,  but  this  same 
is  the  very  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition,  the  abomination  of  deso- 
lation. 

4.  Another  of  its  characters  is,  That  wicked,  in  Greek,  lawless. 
This  is  a  very  proper  description  of  a  wicked  thing  ;  for  nothing  can 
be  counted  wicked  which  is  subject  to  any  good  law ;  for  sin  is  the 
transgression  of  the  law  ;  but  that  which  is  subject  to  no  law  but  its  own 
caprice,  is  necessarily  wicked.  Thus  the  carnal  mind  is  proved  to  be 
enmity  against  God,  because  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  nei- 
ther indeed  can  be.  (Rom.  viii.  7.)  Thus  the  above,  which,  in 
truth,  is  but  the  same,  is  known  to  be  subject  to  no  law,  except  its 
own  ungovernable  sallies  :  not  to  the  law  of  nature  ;  because  its 
operations  are  abundantly  frequent  in  those  circumstances  which 
make  it  impossible  for  the  fruits  appointed  by  nature  to  succeed — not 
to  the  law  of  Moses  5  because  it  is  not  kept  within  the  limits  and  purifi- 
cations prescribed  by  that  legislator — not  to  the  law  of  Christ,  who 
never  cherished  it  in  a  single  instance,  but  appointed  it  to  be  cruci- 
fied with  its  aff"ections  and  lusts  ;  for  that  which  cannot  exist  and  be 
subject,  is  necessarily  wicked,  and  its  ultimate  fate  is  certain  destruc- 
tion— "  Whom  the  Lord  will  consume  with  the  Spirit  of  his  mouth, 
and  will  destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming." 

Should  any  suppose  so  free  a  discussion  of  a  subject  so  delicate  and 
secret  to  be  contrary  to  propriety  or  decency,  let  them  duly  consider 
what  idea  is  to  be  entertained  of  a  Gospel  which  would  patronize,  and 
cherish  in  secret,  such  works  as  are  unfit  to  receive  the  most  liberal 
investigation.  Every  one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light,  neither 
cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  discovered  (margin)  or 
(in  Greek)  convicted.  But  he  that  doeth  truth,  cometh  to  the  light, 
that  his  deeds  may  be  made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God." 
(Jno.  iii.  20,  21.) 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  ORDER  AND  WORKS  OF  GENERATION  DO  NOT  APPERTAIN  TO  CHRIST 

OR  HIS  CHURCH. 

That  marriage  and  the  order  of  the  flesh  have  neither  part  nor  lot 
in  Christ,  is  farther  proved  by  this  doctrine  of  Christ,  "  If  any  man 
come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and  chil- 
dren, and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot 
be  my  disciple."   (Luke  xiv.  26.) 

Some,  however,  are  quite  apt  in  qualifying  the  sayings  of  Christ, 
so  as  to  accommodate  them  to  their  own  views.  But  it  is  at  least  ne- 
cessary not  to  explain  the  teaching  of  Christ  all  away  ;  his  words  are 
not  mere  wind,  but  contain  an  important  meaning,  and  an  energy  not 
to  be  neglected.     That  this  hatred,  of  which  he  speaks,  cannot  be 


284  GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST. 

levelled  against  the  soul  or  the  body,  nor  intend  any  injurious  feelings 
towards  either,  will  be  granted.  Yet  the  words  of  Christ  mean  some- 
thing of  great  importance,  for  on  it  depends  our  discipleship,  and, 
consequently,  our  acceptance  with  God.  I  conclude,  therefore,  that 
these  energetic  words  were  not  delivered  for  a  deception  ;  and  that 
when  he  said  hate^  he  did  not  mean  /oue,  although  the  purest  and  most 
genuine  love  is  strictly  consistent  with  that  hatred.  And  as  the  man's 
nearest  relations,  together  with  his  own  life,  are  singled  out,  as  pecu- 
liar objects  of  hatred,  I  conclude,  that  when  he  says  father  and  mother, 
wife  and  children,  brethren  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he 
means  these  especially,  inasmuch  as  these  stand  nearest  to  self,  and 
therefore  are  most  closely  connected  with  that  self-denial  and  cross- 
bearing  so  indispensably  necessary  to  partaking  with  Christ ;  "  If  any 
man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  me."  But  as  aforesaid,  it  is  not  required  to  hate  the  per- 
son ;  but  to  be  a  disciple  of  Christ,  a  man  must  hate  his  father  and 
his  mother,  and  his  wife  and  his  children  ;  not  the  man  and  the 
woman,  but  the  father  and  the  mother  ;  not  the  woman,  but  the  wife. 
Now  every  one  knows,  that  what  constitutes  father  and  mother,  wife 
and  child,  is  the  flesh,  operating  in  its  own  line  and  order.  They 
twain  shall  be  one  flesh  ;  and,  Thai  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh. 
Therefore  a  man  born  of  his  father  and  mother,  who  are  one  flesh,  is 
born  of  the  flesh,  and  according  to  Christ,  he  is  flesh,  and  according- 
ly so  are  the  whole  connection  and  relation  :  and  in  all  this  work 
Christ  is  not  known.  "  But  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit," 
and  therefore  hath  part  with  Christ. 

A  man  is  not  required  to  hate  his  own  personal  existence,  or  physi-' 
cal  life,  but  his  carnal  life,  and  that  which  supjjorts  it — that  by  which 
he  has  his  existence  in  a  fleshly  fallen  nature.  What  therefore  Christ 
requires  us  to  hate,  is  the  flesh,  which  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and 
is  contrary  to  it  ;  which  also  is  partial,  leading  a  man  to  esteem,  re- 
gard and  befriend  his  own  fleshly  relations  more  than  others,  contrary 
to  Christ,  who  said,  "  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same 
is  my  brother,  and  my  sister  and  mother."   (Mark  iii.  35.) 

When  it  is  considered  that  men  esteem  their  own  relations  after 
the  flesh  more  than  others,  and  are  more  closely  attached  to  them, 
notwithstanding  that  others  are  as  respectable  and  as  worthy  as  they, 
and  often  more  so,  every  man  of  real  intelligence  must  grant,  that 
such  estimation  and  attachment  are  merely  the  partialities  of  the  flesh. 
Yet  such  estimation  and  attachment,  or  these  partialities,  are  as  ne- 
cessary to  the  support  of  marriage,  and  the  line  of  the  flesh  therein, 
as  the  junction  of  the  members  to  the  existence  of  the  body.  This 
proves  that  marriage  and  the  order  of  the  flesh  have  neither  part  nor 
lot  in  Christ,  whose  love  is  impartial,  and  where  each  one  is  esteemed 
according  to  his  real  character,  without  respect  to  persons,  and  in 
whom  all  crucify  the  flesh  with  its  affections  as  well  as  its  lusts. 

This  view  of  the  subject  leaves  no  room  for  any  part  of  all  the  in- 
humanity, cruelty  and  distress,  about  which  the  children  of  this  world 
make  such  an  outcry  against  the  followers  of  Christ ;  but  leaves  the 
Christian  under  every  sacred  obligation  of  humanity  and  charity,  ne- 
cessary to  the  existence  and  comfort  of  society.  Every  duty  between 
the  members  of  the  old  creation  as  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child, 


GENERATION    NOT    OP    CHRIST.  285 

not  subversive  of  tlie  new,  remains  sacred  and  inviolable,  until  they 
all  arrive  to  that  state  wherein  they  have  no  need  of  such  good  oifices 
from  such  relations.  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he 
is  none  of  his  ;"  but  the  Spirit  of  Christ  esteems  all  those  who  do  the 
will  of  God  brethren  and  sisters  ;  those  therefore  who  truly  belong 
to  Christ,  are  in  no  want  of  relations  or  their  good  offices. 

Some  indeed  believe,  or  affect  to  believe,  the  hating  and  forsaking 
required  in  the  disciples  of  Christ,  to  be  merely  mental  and  compara- 
tive, and  to  produce  no  material  separation  or  visible  cutting  off  from 
the  fleshly  connection  and  intercourse  ;  because  it  is  written  :  "  He 
that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me  ;  and 
he  that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me." 
(Matt.  X.  37.)  But  nothing  is  more  certain,  than  that  these  words 
imply  a  contrast  between  Christ  and  the  man's  kindred  ;  so  that  his 
love  cannot  be  divided  between  them,  nor  at  all  imparted  to  both  ; 
which  makes  it  plain,  that  the  love  which  men  have  to  father  and 
mother,  son  and  daughter,  wife  and  child,  is  a  rival  to  the  love  of 
Christ,  and  that  both  cannot  dwell  in  one  heart.  The  words  there- 
fore are  precisely  the  same  as  to  say.  He  that  loveth  father  or  mother, 
is  not  worthy  of  me,  and  he  that  loveth  son  or  daughter,  is  not  worthy 
of  me.  The  sentence  therefore  is  just  tantamount  with  that  above  : 
"  If  any  man  come  to  me  and  hate  not  his  father  and  mother,  and 
wife,^and  children,  and  brother  and  sister,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also, 
he  cannot  be  my  disciple  ;"  for  what  any  man  hates  he  does  not  love. 

Farther  :  If  the  hating  and  forsaking  requisite  in  the  follower.s  of 
-Christ,  be  only  comparative  and  mental,  or  even  verbal  also,  while  the 
jieart  is  as  fully  therein  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit,  v/hence* 
arise  all  those  divisions  and  enmities  of  which  Christ  speaks,  as  the 
certain  and  inevitable  attendants  of  his  Gospel  ?  "  Think  not  that  I  am 
come  to  send  peace  on  earth :  I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword. 
For  I  am  come  to  set  a  man  at  variance  against  his  father,  and  the 
daughter  against  her  mother,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother- 
in-law  ;  and  a  man's  foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household."  (Matt. 
X.  34-36. 

Or,  if  the  Gospel  of  Christ  requires  no  more  than  a  mental  or  com- 
parative forsaking  of  the  line  and  members  of  the  flesh,  wherein  was 
the  necessity,  or  even  propriety  of  the  Apostles  stating  a  provision, 
especially  and  specifically,  for  a  man  and  his  wife,  in  the  case  of  one  being 
a  believer  and  the  other  not.  Let  not  the  believer  put  away  or  leave 
the  unbeliever  ;  "  But  if  the  unbelieving  depart,  let  him  [or  her]  depart. 
A  brother  or  a  sister  is  not  under  bonds  in  such  cases.     (1  Cor.  vii.  15.) 

Now^,  where  was  it  ever  known  that  a  man  put  away  his  wife  because 
of  her  being  a  believer  in  Christ,  or  that  a  woman  departed  from  her 
husband  on  account  of  his  being  a  believer,  provided  the  faith  of  such 
believer  did  not  extend  to  the  demolishing  of  the  works  of  the  flesh, 
and  disannulling  its  claims  in  Christians.^  It  is  true,  as  stated  before, 
that  infidels,  and  professed  Christians,  or  professed  Christians  of  divided 
faith,  can  generally  live  together  in  as  much  agreement  as  where  their 
faith  is  one,  provided  the  claims  and  works  of  the  flesh  be  preserved  in- 
violate. 

Or  where  was  it  ever  known,  particularly  in   a  free  country,  that  a 
,,^  man  was  at  variance  against  his  father,  the  mother  against  her  daughter, 


286  GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST. 

and  the  daughter  against  her  mother,  so  as  to  make  a  man's  foes  to  be 
those  of  his  own  household,  on  account  of  his  faith  in  Christ,  unless 
where  the  believing  part  have  that  real  and  genuine  faith  of  Christ,  which 
leads  them  to  crucify  the  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts,  and  to  ex- 
clude the  order  of  the  flesh  and  its  v/orks  (the  sexual  intercourse,  law- 
ful or  unlawful)  from  all  share  in  Christ?  Although  it  is  not  to  be 
denied,  that  partial  jars  have  sometimes  taken  place  between  those  of 
the  same  household,  on  account  of  the  faith  of  some  towards  Christ  ; 
particularly  in  those  times  when  God  has  been  pouring  out  on  the  peo- 
ple a  Spirit  of  grace  and  supplication,  and  spreading  light  abroad  in  some 
uncommon  manner,  as  in  the  Kentucky  revival.  But  as  all  these  revi- 
vals fall  short  of  the  perfect  work  of  salvation  by  the  cross,  these  par- 
tial divisions  may  soon  be  removed,  and  civil  peace  and  agreement  be 
restored.  For  although  such  revivals  may  burn-  with  vengeance  against 
the  flesh,  they  do  not  reach  far  enough  to  purge  it  out  of  the  temple. 

It  is  also  to  be  granted,  that  variances,  enmities,  feuds  and  animosities 
are  frequent  enough  among  professed  Christians  ;  but  it  is  too  evident, 
that  they  spring  from  a  source  very  different  from  that  of  the  faith  of 
Christ,  and  a  tenacious  adherence  to  it — the  want  of  genuine  faith 
and  obedience  ;  for  the  Spirit,  or  faith  of  Christ  perseculeth  none, 
envieth  none,  banisheth  none,  nor  causeth  any  divisions,  excepting  those 
produced  by  his  people's  testifying  to,  and  living  in  that  truth  which  is 
necessary  for  salvation. 

On  the   whole,  to  suppose  the  denying,  forsaking  or  hating  requi- 
site in  a  disciple,  to  be  mental,  verbal,  comparative,  or  in  any  respect 
short  of  a  total  destruction  of  the  order  of  the  flesh  and  its  works,- 
•depreciates  the  words  of  Christ,  and  renders  them  weak  and  indeter- 
minate, not  to  say  false. 

When  men  make  resistance  and  become  foes  to  others,  it  is  on  the 
principle  of  considering  themselves  injured  or  aggrieved  ;  but  why 
should  the  children  of  this  world  complain  of  injury  or  grievance 
against  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  or  become  foes  to  those  who  practise  it, 
if  they  can  partake  of  its  benefits,  and  keep  their  beloved  works  unhurt, 
and  the  body  and  core  of  them  unmolested  ?  But  the  work  of  Christ 
proceeds  immediately  to  life  and  death.  "  He  that  findeth  his  life  shall 
lose  it ;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it."  (Matt. 
X.  39.)  This  makes  a  thorough  and  final  separation  between  those 
who  bear  the  cross  and  those  who  remain  enemies  to  it. 

As  for  the  notion  of  dividing  the  love  between  Christ  and  the  wife, 
children  and  others,  allowing  Christ  the  greatest  portion,  it  is  too  weak 
to  merit  a  serious  answer,  were  it  not  so  much  insisted  upon  by  many. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  granted,  that  Christ  requires  the  whole  heart, 
love  and  affecuons  ;  consequently,  whosoever  interferes  to  prevent  any 
part,  is  a  rival  to  him  ;  because  no  man  can  serve  two  masters.  But 
he  who  lives  in  the  practice  of  generation,  does  the  work  of  the  first 
Adam,  and  thereby  serves  him,  and  therefore  cannot  serve  Christ. 

But  if  this  be  counted  an  unfair  statement,  and  it  be  argued,  that 
Christ  demands  the  whole  heart,  love  and  affections,  which  being  giv- 
en to  him,  comprehend  in  the  same  relation,  parents,  children  and  oth- 
.ers  ;  this  is  granted,  provided  those  parents,  children  and  others,  are 
in  Christ,  and  the  love  embraces  them  in  that  character;  and  this  is 
the  very  love  for  which  we  contend,  which  effectually  supplants,  and 


GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST.  287 

utterly  excludes  all  that  love  which  is  partial,  fixed  on  those  who  are 
nearly  allied  in  the  line  of  the  flesh.  For  it  is  before  stated  in  evidence, 
that  the  love  which  men  bear  to  their  natural  relations,  as  such,  dis- 
tinctly from  others,  is  a  rival  to  the  love  of  Christ — partial  and  un- 
just.    But, 

Once  more :  By  an  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  those  who  have  had 
their  mind  and  feelings  awakened  to  a  consideration  of  the  testimony 
of  Christ,  in  his  second  appearing,  it  maybe  farther  proved  to  their  sat- 
isfaction, that  those  who  love  wife  or  children,  for  instance,  at  all,  in 
the  order  of  that  relation,  and  refuse  to  forsake  them,  do  necessarily 
love  them  more  than  Christ,  and  consequently  come  short  of  genuine 
love  to  Christ.  For  let  it  be  considered,  that  when  the  Gospel  is  pre- 
sented to  such,  with  these  terms  of  hating  and  forsaking  father  and 
mother,  wife  and  children,  and  others,  their  ultimate  objection  is,  that 
Christ  does  not  require  such  terms,  and  on  that  plea  reject  the  whole. 
This  proves  that  they  love  these  relations  and  enjoyments  more  than 
Christ ;  for  if  they  esteemed  Christ  above  those,  they  would  make  sure 
of  their  part  in  him,  come  of  other  matters  what  would  ;  not  doubting, 
at  the  same  time,  that  wife  or  husband,  or  children,  will  be  all  restored 
provided  such  a  state  of  things  be  compatiblewith  genuine  Christianity. 
"  For  no  good  thing  will  he  withhold  from  them  that  walk  uprightly." 
(Psa.  Ixxxiv.  11.)  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  to  you  ;"  (Matt.  vi.  33  ;) 
that  is,  all  those  things  of  which  your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  ye 
have  need,  as  is  stated  in  the  preceding  verse. 

Should  any  object  that  the  above  argument  is  not  conclusive,  because 
many  reject  that  testimony  of  the  Gospel  which  requires  such  sacrifices, 
because  they  do  not  believe  it  true  ;  whereas  did  they  actually  believe 
it  true,  they  would  submit,  and  make  all  the  sacrifices  which  could  be 
required  to  obtain  salvation.  To  these  it  is  replied  :  that  no  sacrifices 
are  required  to  be  made  in  the  Gospel  for  which  we  plead,  more  than  what 
are  very  expressly  taught  in  the  words  of  Christ ;  and  no  way  appears 
to  get  round  them,  only  to  plead  that  he  did  not  mean  what  he  said, 
and  also  to  contrast  one  saying  against  another  to  weaken  the  force  of 
his  doctrine.  Poor  subterfuges,  for  those  who  acknowledge  Christ  as  a 
true  teacher.  This  testimony  of  the  Gospel  goes  no  greater  length 
than  these  words  :  "  So  likewise  whosoever  he  be  of  you  that  doth  not 
forsake  all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple;"  and  many  more, 
as  already  stated. 

Besides  ;  The  ultimate  and  cogent  reason  why  people  disbelieve,  or 
affect  to  disbelieve,  is  their  unwillingness  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  all  for 
Christ — their  enmity  against  the  cross  which  the  Gospel  requires. 
This,  instead  of  being  an  evidence  against  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  in 
this  day,  is  really  in  its  favour.  But  they  stumble  at  the  cross,  being 
disobedient. 

But  to  set  this  subject  in  a  still  clearer  point  of  view,  let  us  once  more 
have  recourse  to  the  words  of  Christ.  It  has  already  been  stated,  that 
whatever  is  compatible  with  the  genuine  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  neces- 
sary for  those  who  are  called  into  it,  shall  be  restored  or  given  to  them. 
Now  the  Spirit  and  words  of  Christ  are  the  best  testimony  of  these 
things,  what  they  are  and  what  not.  He  saith,  "  There  is  no  man  that 
hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or 


288  GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHEIST. 

children,  or  lands,  for  my  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive 
an  hundred-fold  now  in  this  time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and 
mothers,  and  children,  and  lands,  with  persecutions  ;  and  in  the  world 
to  come  eternal  life." 

It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  there  is  no  wife  in  the  promise  of 
Christ,  {why  cannot  the  people  see  it?)  for  this  plain  reason,  no  doubt, 
that  the  works  and  office  commonly  attiibuted  to  a  wife,  do  not  belong 
to  the  Gospel.  People  may  have  parents  and  children,  brethren  and 
sisters,  according  to  the  Spirit,  houses  and  lands  to  subserve  the  work 
of  the  Spirit,  and  enjoy  them,  when  devoted  to  that  use  ;  but  a  wife 
pertains  to  the  order  of  the  flesh,  and  in  that  respect  is  not  known  in 
the  Gospel.  Other  Scriptures  speak  of  those  who  are  called  fathers, 
in  relation  to  the  work  of  Christ,  that  is,  in  the  Spirit. 

This  will  be  no  improper  place  to  introduce  another  Scripture, 
which  draws  the  line  of  distinction,  and  shows  to  what  class  marriage 
belongs.  "The  children  of  this  world  marry,  and  are  given  in 
marriage  ;  but  they  which  shall  be  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that 
world,  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  neither  marry  nor  are 
given  in  marriage.  Neither  can  they  die  any  more  ;  for  they  are 
equal  unto  the  angels,  and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  children 
of  the  resurrection."  (Luke  xx.  34,  35,  36.)  Now  the  children  of 
this  world  are  not  the  children  of  God,  nor  followers  of  Christ,  as  he 
said,  "They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world." 
Those,  therefore,  who  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage,  are  not  the 
children  of  God,  nor  followers  of  Christ.  Again :  It  is  not  to  be 
denied,  that  all  the  true  followers  of  Christ  are,  and  shall  be  accounted 
worthy,  (and  have  been,  since  the  period  when  they  became  so,)  to 
obtain  that  world  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead.  But  those 
accounted  worthy,  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage  ;  there- 
fore none  of  the  true  followers  of  Christ  marry  or  are  given  in 
marriage. 

I  am  aware  of  the  flimsy  objection  of  carnal  men,  to  evade  the  force 
of  this  text.  That  the  question  proposed  by  the  Sadducees,  to  which 
this  answer  was  given,  related  to  the  resurrection  of  men  literally 
dead.  And  what  if  it  did  ?  Must  the  ignorance  and  carnality  of 
those  Sadducees  compel  Jesus  to  talk  of  carnal  things,  as  well  as  they, 
or  make  his  words  false  .?  It  was  a  business  not  unknown  to  Jesus,  to 
lead  people  out  of  their  inferior  care  and  gross  conceptions  into 
things  spiritual.  So  did  he  with  Nicodemus,  whom  he  led  imme- 
diately to  the  subject  of  being  born  of  the  Spirit ;  a  subject  of  which 
Nicodemus  had  never  thought  or  heard  before,  and  by  no  means  a 
direct  reply  to  the  proposition  he  had  made. 

In  like  manner  he  dealt  with  Martha,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Lazarus.  "Jesus  saith  to  her.  Thy  brother  shall 
rise  again.  Martha  saith  to  him,  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in 
the  resurrection  at  the  last  day.  Jesus  saith  to  her,  I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life  ;  he  that  believeth  on  me,  though  he  were  dead, 
yet  shall  he  live  ;  and  whosoever  liveth,  and  believeth  in  me,  shall 
never  die."  (Jno.  xi.  23-26.)  Martha  believed  the  resurrection, 
the  Sadducees  did  not ;  but  her  conceptions  of  its  nature  accorded 
with  theirs.  But  Jesus  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  lead  her 
into  something  of  its  true  nature,  showing  it  to  be  a  spiritual  work, 


GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST.  289 

and  that  he  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life  ;  so  that  to  be  in  him,  is 
to  be  in  the  resurrection  and  in  the  life,  so  as  never  to  die.  Now, 
notwithstanding  that  Martha,  in  what  she  stated,  had  respect  to  a 
literal  death  and  literal  resurrection,  the  answer  of  Jesus  related 
ultimately  to  neither  ;  for  in  that  relation  it  would  be  false  ;  because 
it  is  an  uncontested  truth,  that  believers  in  Christ  die  the  common, 
literal  death,  as  well  as  others  ;  and  Jesus  well  knew  that  even  Lazarus 
himself,  after  being  raised,  as  an  instance  of  his  power  and  truth,  was 
subject  to  a  literal  death,  as  well  as  others.  "But  in  Christ  shall  all 
be  made  alive."  (1  Cor.  xv.  22.)  Those  who  are  truly  in  Christ, 
who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life,  are  in  the  resurrection,  and  can 
die  no  more. 

These  Sadducees,  it  is  true,  proposed  their  question  as  it  related 
to  men  literally  dead  ;  but  the  answer  of  Jesus  was  not  confined  to 
these  individuals,  but  included  the  subjects  of  the  resurrection  in 
general ;  it  also  excludes  from  marriage  those  who  are  worthy  of  the 
resurrection.  The  proposition  therefore  remains  true,  that  the  children 
of  God,  or  true  followers  of  Christ,  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in 
marriage  ;  for  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  are  all  accounted 
worthy. 

The  parallel  texts  in  the  other  evangelists  farther  evince,  that  the 
resurrection  of  which  Christ  here  speaks,  is  not  corporeal,  but  spiritual. 
Thus  Matthew :  "  In  the  resurrection,  [observe,  Christ  is  the  resurrec- 
tion,] they  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  [present  tense,] 
but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven."  (xxii.  30.)  And  Mark  : 
"  When  they  shall  rise  from  the  dead,  they  neither  marry  nor  are 
given  in  marriage  ;  [present  tense  ;]  but  are  as  the  angels  which  are 
in  heaven."  (xii.  25.)  As  Christ  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life, 
when  any  come  into  Christ  they  rise  from  the  dead.  "  If  then  ye  be 
risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which  are  above."  (Col.  iii.  1.) 

Thus,  by  comparing  these  parallel  texts,  it  is  evident,  that  to  be  in 
the  resurrection,  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and  to  be  accounted  worthy, 
are  one  and  the  same  thing  ;  for  the  three  evangelists,  speaking  by 
the  same  Spirit,  use  these  different  phrases  in  describing  precisely 
the  same  state  ;  which  could  not  be  true  of  any  resurrection  of  the 
body,  literally ;  but  is  strictly  applicable  to  that  moral  or  spiritual 
change  which  is  effected  in  the  soul  by  becoming  one  with  Christ  in 
the  Spirit,  and  so  passing  from  death  to  life.  Add  to  this,  that  Luke's 
account  expressly  limits  the  resurrection  here  intended  to  that  by 
which  its  subjects  become  children  of  God.  "They  are  the  children 
of  God,  being  the  children  of  the  resurrection."  Here  the  resurrec- 
tion is  stated  as  the  medium  whereby  they  become  children  of  God, 
which  is  confessedly  no  other  than  receiving  Christ  and  being  made 
alive  in  him. 

To  prove  that  the  resurrection  here  intended  is  incompatible  with 
remaining  in  the  tabernacle,  and  therefore  that  this  Scripture  teaches 
nothing  contrary  to  Christians  marrying  like  the  rest  of  the  world, 
some  avail  themselves  of  this  argument :  That  the  characteristic 
terms  used  in  describing  those  who  do  not  marry  are  such  as  cannot 
he  applied  to  men  on  the  earth;  such  as,  "  Neither  can  they  die 
any  more.''"'  But  it  has  already  been  shown  that  this  is  applica- 
ble to  all  those  who  are  truly  in  Christ.  Another  part  of  their 
20 


290,  GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST. 

character  is  :  "  But  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven,^^  or,  "For  they 
are  equal  to  the  angels.''''  Now  query:  Is  this  any  more  than  that  for 
which  Christ  taught  his  disciples  to  pray?  Thy  kingdom  come;  thy 
will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.''''  This  kingdom  can  be  no  other 
than  the  kingdom  or  Church  of  Christ  on  the  earth,  for  to  that  the  prayer 
limits  it :  those  therefore  who  are  true  members  of  Christ's  Church  on 
earth,  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven,  for  they  do  the  will  of  God 
on  earth,  as  it  is  done  in  heaven.     And  what  do  angels  more  ? 

The  nature  of  language  is  to  be  limited,  in  a  certain  degree,  to  the 
subject  under  consideration  when  it  is  used.  The  subject  in  hand  is 
the  resurrection,  as  it  stands  connected  with  marriage.  In  the  first 
place  then,  those  who  are  in  Christ,  the  resurrection  and  the  life,  though 
they  have  once  died  in  Adam,  are  now  where  they  can  die  no  more, 
and  herein  are  equal  to  the  angels.  Also,  those  who  are  in  Christ, 
are  counted  worthy  to  obtain  that  ivorld  and  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead  ;  therefore  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  and  are 
therefore  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven,  who  do  not  marry. 

These  things  show,  that  the  whole  description  of  those  who  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage  is  strictly  applicable  to  men  on  the 
earth  ;  and  though  the  language  be  too  spiritual  and  heavenly  for 
those  who  are  after  the  flesh,  and  therefore  savour  only  the  things  of 
the  flesh,  it  is  no  wise  inconsistent  with  the  faith  and  feelings  of  those 
who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  according  to  the  flesh,  but  ac- 
cording to  the  Spirit.  They  can  askno  better  condition,  and  they  know 
that  angels  are  incapable  of  any  thing  superior  to  being  free  from  the 
fetters  of  the  flesh,  the  bondage  of  corruption,  and  doing  the  will  of 
God  according  to  the  order  of  Christ,  "0/  whom  the  whole  family  in 
heaven  and  in  earth  is  named.''''     (Eph.  iii.  15.) 

An  appeal  to  the  learned.  The  Greek  word  used  by  Mark,  which 
the  translators  have  rendered,  "  They  shall  rise,"  is  the  present  of  the  sub- 
junctive mood .  Now  can  any  reason  be  assigned  vihy  they  should  translate 
it  by  a  future  tense,  except  to  accommodate  it  to  their  own  understand- 
ing, being,  at  the  same  time,  ignorant  of  the  import  of  the  text,  and  the 
subject  to  which  it  related?  The  phrase  in  Luke,  which  is  translated, 
"  Kihall  be  accounted  worthy ''  is  a  participle  of  the  second  indefinite, 
importing  past  tense,  though  imperfectly.  On  what  principle  could  the 
translators  make  such  a  bold  adventure,  as  to  render  that  phrase  by  a 
future  verb,  except  the  same  arbitrary  determination  to  translate  accord- 
ing to  their  own  views  .-*  The  literal  translation  of  the  phrase  used  by 
Mark  is,  "  When  they  rise  ;"  and  it  properly  expresses  the  situation  of 
those  who  hear  the  Gospel,  with  respect  to  the  resurrection;  which, 
though  it  had  never  been  perfected  in  any  case,  was  then  working,  and 
would  be  accomplished  in  an  increasing  progressive  succession.  Thus 
the  sentence  will  read  :  "  For  when  they  rise  [that  is,  as  fast  as  any 
rise]  from  the  dead,  they  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage.'" 
The  phrase  used  by  Luke,  though  used  in  a  different  tense,  communi- 
cates the  same  information,  by  a  different  form  of  expression.  It  may 
be  translated,  "  Those  accounted  worthy  ;"  or,  in  its  connection,  thus: 
"  But  they  who  are  [or  have  been]  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that 
world,  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  [that  is,  as  fast  any  are  ac- 
counted worthy,  or  come  into  the  numiber  of  God's  children,  they] 
neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage." 


GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST.  291 

Thus  the  whole  matter  is  applicable  to  those  "who  keep  the  Gospel 
on  the  earth  as  much  as  the  commission  which  Christ  gave  to  his  disci- 
ples, to  preach  the  Gospel  and  to  baptize  those  who  should  believe  ; 
both  of  which,  the  believing  and  baptizing,  are  expressed  in  the  same 
tense,  or  division  of  time,  as  the  being  accounted  worthy:  "  He  that 
believeth,  [or  hath  believed, j  and  is  [or  hath  been]  baptized,  shall  be 
saved."  When  the  people  believed,  they  were  baptized  ;  and  when 
they  were  baptized,  they  received  the  promise  of  salvation,  and  began 
to  be  saved  from  that  hour  ;  for  they  were  baptized  into  Christ,  and  into 
his  death,  or  baptized  by  the  Spirit,  as  it  is  again  written  :  "  After  that 
ye  believed,  [or  having  believed,  the  word  being  a  participle,  expressing 
the  same  division  of  time  as  above,]  ye  were  sealed  with  that  Holy 
Spirit  of  promise."  (Eph.  i.  13.)  So  when  the  people  are  (or  have 
been)  accounted  worthy  to  obtain,  they  cease  to  marry  in  the  present 
tense. 

A  farther  proof  that  marriage  is  inconsistent  with  Christianity,  is 
the  saying  of  the  Apostle  :  "  Now  concerning  the  things  whereof  ye 
wrote  unto  me  ;  It  is  good  for  a  man  not  to  touch  a  woman."  (1  Cor. 
vii.  1.)  This  point  he  has  treated  at  considerable  length,  and  in  a  man- 
ner which  appears  to  be  little  understood  by  professors  in  general,  who 
in  their  appeals  to  it,  seem  to  forget  the  proposition  which  is  laid  down 
as  the  foundation  point  to  be  discussed  and  maintained,  that,  It  is  good 
for  a  man  not  to  touch  a  woman,  and  to  build  all  their  arguments 
on  the  exceptions  and  permissions  which  are  made  to  answer  cases  of 
necessity  and  inability  ;  and  thus  they  subvert  the  v^'hole  of  the  Apos- 
tle's meaning.  It  is  expected  of  an  honest  writer,  that  the  proposition 
which  he  undertakes  to  defend  will  meet  the  approbation  of  his  own  best 
judgment,  and  so  remain  until  he  is  convinced  of  the  contrary.  But 
the  Apostle  was  so  far  from  giving  up  his  position,  that  he  has  main- 
tained it  to  the  last,  and  confirmed  it  with  an  appeal  to  his  having  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  that  he  spoke  as  one  who  had  obtained  mercy  of  the 
Lord  to  be  faithful.  Accordingly,  all  he  has  said  in  favour  of  marriage, 
or  of  living  in  natural  generation  by  those  who  were  already  married, 
is  on  the  principle  of  permission  and  necessity,  contrary  to  the  desire  of 
him  who  had  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  had  obtained  mercy  of  the  Lord  to 
be  faithful. 

"  It  is  good  for  a  man  not  to  touch  a  woman.  Nevertheless  to  avoid 
fornication,  [or,  but  because  of  the  fornications,  Sia  Ss  th.^  ■tfopvsi'ag-,  for 
the  words  to  avoid,  are  not  in  the  Greek,  but  for  no  other  cause,  as  to 
marry  is  not  after  Christ ;  but  for  the  reason  offered  :]  let  every  man 
have  his  own  wife,  and  let  every  woman  have  her  own  husband."  If 
those  intersexual  works  must  be  carried  on,  let  every  one  have  his  own, 
and  not  meddle  with  another.  And  in  the  mean  time,  let  the  best  pos- 
sible deportment  be  observed  towards  each  other.  "  Let  the  husband 
render  unto  the  wife  due  benevolence ;  and  likewise  also  the  wife  to 
the  husband.  The  wife  hath  not  power  of  her  own  body,  but  the 
husband  ;  and  likewise  also  the  husband  hath  not  power  of  his  own  body, 
but  the  wife.      [This  is  according  to  the  law  of  marriage.]     Defraud* 

*  It  is  very  unreasonable  and  inconsistent  to  suppose  the  apostle  Paul,  that  holy 
man  of  God,  by  his  apostolic  authority,  meant  to  require  his  Christian  followers 
who  happened  to  be  in  a  married  state,  to  subject  themselves  to  the  insatiable 


292  GEWEKATIOiK    HOT  OF   (OTEIST;. 

[or  deprive}  ye  not  orae  the  other,  except  with  consent  for  a>time,  that  ye 
may  give  yourselves  to  fasting  and  prayer  ;  [for  if  ye  touch  wife  or  hus- 
band,ye  can  saeither  fast  nor  pray  in  the  Spirit.  See  Exod.  xix.  15,]  and!- 
come  together  again.,  that  Satan  tempt  you  uot  through  your  inoonti- 
nency.  But  this  1  speak  by  permission,  [because  of  your  carnality  and 
weakness  in  the  faith,  ye  being,  u^nable  to  receive  the  unmingled  truth 
of  Christ,]  3i©t  ©f  commandment.  For  I  would  that  all  meja.  were  event 
as  I  myself;  but  every  man  hath-  his  proper  gift  of  God,  one  after  this. 
manner,  and  anoth^'r  after  that."  So  that  some  were  able  to  bear  a 
beavier  and  Riore  perfect  cross-  ihau  others-,  having  received  a  greater 
gift  of  God,  according  as  they  were  better  able  to  exercise  and  im- 
prove it. 

Thus  he  gave  to  eveuy  one  according  to  his  ability  to  improve.  And 
Ibat  this  is  the  true  meaning  of  the  Apostle's  words  is  proved  by  this^ 
that  the  Spirit  does  not  contradict  itself;  f©r  to  suppose,  as-  some  have 
whimsically  done,  that  some  Men  had  received  a  gsf^t  of  God  to  marry^ 


"■last  of  concupiscence"  m  each  otfeeiF,  withotit  iregard  t& times  and  seasons,  or 
ihe  3estrainls  of  conscience,  and  with  no  eaceptions — not  even  iov-  the  purpose 
of  lastiBg  and  prayer,  except  by  EOBtuai]  consent.  Can  any  lationa]  person  be- 
lieve that  this  faithl'sjl  servant  of  Clin&t  wsald.  give  the  demands  of  lust  upors 
itbe  parties  a  claim  paramownt^to  their  conscienlioHS  feelings  of  fasting  and  prayec 
to  God  ?  This  would  be  giving  a  license  to  Mnbuidled  loat  that  would  shock  the 
»OTal  Jedingg  even  of  a  heathen,  and  degrade  the  very  name  of  Christianity  in 
Ms  view, 

TiieM«>saic  law  hoand  the  parties  to  negard  times  and  seasons,  and  mankind 
geiierally  have  some  remaining  sense  of  pjopey  tiraes  andseafona,  and  the  state 
of  the  parties.  Bat  according  to  the  docuiiie  of  some  expositors,  it  seems  that 
they  would  feav®  this  baryi&r  entirely  reEnoved,  and  make  the  demands  of  lusC 
the  supreme  dictator,  pointing  to  an  ' object  of  worship  above  even  Sod  himself. 
This  is  the  character  which  the  same  apostle  gives  of  the  man  of  sin.  The  per- 
versions of  this  single  text  has  done  more,  among  professed  Christians,  towards' 
entbroaing  the  wtan  of  sin,  than  any  othsr  th&6  we  know  of.  The  Apostle 
taught  no  such  doctrine*  Nay;  he  gave  this,  as  he  expressly  declaFes,  by  per- 
missiony  and  not  ol  commandment.  It  laid  the  parties  under  nofuMhev  obliga- 
tions than  this ;  that  if  they  were  so  carnal  that  they  were  not  able  to  understand 
nor  receive  the  spiritual  doctrine  and  cross  of  Christ,  bat  must  enjoy  the 
flesh,  in  some  way  or  other,,  tfeey  should  not  foifsake  their  own  husbands  and 
wives,  bnt  should  conduct  theaiselvss  decently,  properfy  and  benevolently  to- 
wards each  other. 

II  ihe  Apostil®  meaat  to  give  any  other  injunction  than  this,  he  contradicts 
himself;  for  in  the  close  of  this  instMction,  he  destroys  the  idea  of  its  being  hi& 
desire  that  they  should  come  together  at  all  by  saying,  "  I. speak  this  by  permis- 
sion, and  not  of  eonomandment.  For  I  would  that  all  men  [married  and  unmar- 
lied]  were  eve»  bss  mjs&l£"  He  himself  was  iinmarried,  and  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  Ijist  of  tkefle.sh.  Yet  hov^  astonishing  it  is^  that  those  who  name  the- 
name  of  Christ, and  assaroe  the  highest  attainment."?  in  Christianity,  and  claim 
Hhe  greatest  learning  and  tihe  deepest  research  in  divine  things,  skoald  take  to 
Sheraselves,  and  apply  to  their  ow©  ijidalgence,  the  permissions  a^d  indalgence* 
given  to  the  Corinthians,  whom  the  Apostle  ex|w®ssly  declares  to  be  carnal,.and 
Uhat  he  spoke  to  them  as  carnal,  and  not  spiritual.  And  these  permissions  and 
iindalgences  they  obstinately  prefer  to  the  good  and  right  way  which  the  Apos- 
lle  so  plainly  points-  out,  by  declaring,  that  it  is  good  to  touch  neither  husband 
mo.!  wife,  nor  any  gratification  of  carnal  lust,  and  sets  himself  as  an  example  of 
such  a  character.  '•  It  is  good  that  ye  abide  even  as  I" — and,  "  Be  ye  followers 
of  me,  even  as  I  am  of  Christ." — Eds» 


■     «ESrEEATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST. 

<aB!(l  some  had  not,  would  contradict  the  same  Spirit  in  the  Apostle^ 
saying,  "  I  would  that  all  imen  were  even  as  I  myself;"  who  confess- 
edly was  UKmarried.  "  I  say,  therefore,  to  the  unmarried  and  widows,, 
it  is  good  for  them  if  they  abide  evea  as  1.  But  if  [through  the  violence 
©f  their  lusts,  and  their  lack  of  power  iu  the  Spirit  of  Christ]  they  can- 
net  contain^  [or  rather,  according  to  some  emineat  critics,  will  not  coa- 
4ain^  let  them  marry ;  for  it  is  better  to  marry  than  to  hursi."  And 
d;hus  it  is,  through  the  whole  discourse,  as  every  man  of  a  discerning 
ffwind  can  see,  the  only  ceuEteaaEce  gives  to  marriage  is  permission,  to 
avoid  a  greater  evil,  or,  which  is  the  same,  through  that  necessity  which 
arises  from  tiieir  carnal  state,  and  ?anwilMngness  to  take  up  their  ctoss. 
But  he  maintains  his  pcsiiti'Sn,  that  It  is  goad  for  a  man  not  to  louck  a 
woman  ;  or  wife,  as  the  word  is  rendered  every  where  eke  ia  that  dis- 
course ;  neither  is  there  any  kind  of  reasoa  for  ©ot  reijdering  it  wife 
in  this  proposition,  as  wife  and  h^sbassd  are  the  special  subject  matter 
of  the  whole  chapter. 

AccordiMgly,  in  his  last  seatemce,  after  he  had  ctKssidered  the  matter 
iSihrough,  and  oa  every  side,  he  has  confirmed  his  propositioti,  that  the 
(jood  way  is  Eot  to  marry,  "  Bat  she  [the  widow]  is  happier  if  she  s® 
sibide,  afteT  nij  judgnaent ;  and  I  think  also  that  I  have  the  iSpirit  ®f 
Crod."  If,  therefore,  Paul  was  Eot  mistaken — if  be  was  untier  the  guid- 
ance of  the  Spirit  of  God — if  he  iznderetood  the  genuine  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity— if  his  writings  have  s.Ey  validity  <in  this  subject,  it  is  Bot  good, 
it  is  not  accerdiug  to  geiiui^e  Christianity,  for  a  man  to  towch  a  womasii 
<or  a  woman  a  man,  m  the  line  of  marriage  or  its  works.  Bat  the  Apos- 
tle did  aot  enjoin  it  -on  them  absoiately  io  abstaia,  but  arged  it  as  far 
®s  they  were  able  to  bear,  and  left  them  to  make  their  owa  choice,  for 
the  time  heisg,  after  having  shown  them  what  is  the  best  way. 

Neither  were  Ihej^  who  married  ahsoiatelj  disowsied  or  excladed 
■from  the  uumber  of  (lelievers,  ia  that  day,  although  tiiey  were  not  able 
lo  come  into  that  close,  spirittaat  and  pure  uaion  with  the  unmarried, 
and  suffered  many  disadvantages,  for  the  time  beieg,  and  also  mast 
♦finally  coiae  to  that  point,  bearing  a  full  aad  .perfect  cposs,  before  they 
could  find  full  redefinptios.  Heace  he  urges  them  with  great  earrjest- 
«ess,  and  yet  with  that  tenderness  and  fofbearaace  which  their situatiom 
erequired-  They  were  Just  called,  and  likely  Eiiost  of  them  out  of  hea- 
ithenism.  They  were  yet  carnal,  aad  m^alkedas  mea  ;  (I  Cor.  iii.  3:) 
and  it  becs,me  aecessary  to  deal  with  thetsi  as  they  were  able  to  bear, 
to  feed  theiii  with  milfc,  and  not  with  strong  meat. 

**■'  Now,  concerning  virgins,  I  have  kq  commandment  of  the  Lord : 
3''et  I  give  my  judgment,  as  oee  that  hath  obtaitied  mercy  of  the  Lord. 
^®  fee  faithful,  i  suppose  therefore  tliat  this  is  good  for  the  present  dis- 
tress, [or  OTayx'^jv,  necessily  ;]  I  say,  that  it  is  good  for  a  man  so  to  be.. 
Art  thou  [already]  bouad  to  a  wife?  seek  e-ot  ia  be  lo<vsed  [for  the 
present.  Biit]  art  thou  loosed  from  a  wife  .^  seek  not  a  wife,  fbutbeiBg 
free  remaia  even  as  I,  and  thou  wilt  fetsd  thy  advantage  In  so  doiog«J 
But  aad  if  thou  marrj'',  thoti  hast  not  sinned ;  aisdif  a  virgin  marry,  she 
hath  not  siEned  ;"  for  sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  taw,  and  there  is 
no  commandment  not  to  marry ;  ahstiaence  is  oalj  a  matter  of  faith  ia 
Christ. 

This  is  quite  an  accommodating  expression,  to  ameliorate  the  edge  of 
truth,  in  teaderaess  to  those  who  were  Hot  able  to  digest  sound  doctrine 


294  GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST. 

in  its  naked  simplicity.  It  was  also  well  calculated  to  prevent  conten- 
tions and  evil  surnriisings  against  each  other,  to  which  the  Corinthians 
were  very  subject.  In  this  view  we  may  consider  many  of  his  expres- 
sions, and  amongst  others,  that  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  ;  "Mar- 
riage is  honourable  in  all,  and  the  bed  undefiled."  (xiii.  4.)  A  saying 
which  cannot  apply  to  any,  except  those  who  faithfully  abstain  from 
the  flesh.  A  short  saying  dropped,  in  an  unconnected  dress,  to  relieve 
from  difficulty,  lest  they  who  were  unmarried  should  surmise  evil 
against  those  who  were  married,  as  though  they  corrupted  the  faith  of 
the  Gospel.  But  after  all  these  accommodating  expressions,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  words,  hath  not  sinned^  can  only  be  applied  according  to 
the  measure  of  their  faith,  and  they  were  evidently  so  applied  by  the 
Apostle:  "  For  [he  says]  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith,  is  sin."  (Rom, 
xiv.  23.)  Therefore,  they  could  apply  to  those  only  who  were  carnal, 
(as  were  the  Corinthians,)  and  had  not  the  real  faith  of  Christ ;  for  this 
faith  is  diametrically  opposite  to  the  carnal  mind,  and  those  who  diso- 
bey it  certainly  sin  in  so  doing.  Hence  he  shows  them  what  will  be 
the  effects  of  the  true  faith  of  Christ  when  it  comes  to  be  finally  estab- 
lished in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  believers  ;  for  he  adds:  "  Neverthe- 
less such  shall  have  trouble  in  the  flesh  :  [being  plagued  by  its  lusts  ; 
})ecause  by  the  law  of  marriage,  they  have  not  power  over  their  own 
bodies,  being  bound  to  others  by  the  flesh  :]  but  I  spare  you.  [Hav- 
ing said  as  far  as  ye  can  well  bear.]  "But  [2  must  do  my  duty^  there- 
fore] this  I  say  brethren,  the  time  is  short:  it  remaineth,  that  both 
they  that  have  wives  be  as  though  they  had  none  ;  and  they  that  weep, 
as  though  they  wept  not ;  and  the}''  that  rejoice,  as  though  they  rejoiced 
not ;  and  they  that  buy,  as  though  they  possessed  not ;  and  they  that 
use  this  world,  as  not  abusing  it ;  for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth 
away."  All  these  customs  of  the  world,  therefore,  must  cease  in  the 
Church. 

In  vain  do  men  plead  that  these  things  relate  to  the  state  of  Chris- 
tians after  the  dissolution  of  the  body,  or  natural  death,  because  in  that 
state,  there  is  no  kind  of  evidence  that  they  will  either  buy  or  use  this 
world,  or  that  they  will  have  wives  to  be  as  though  they  had  none.  Be- 
sides, the  reason  of  this  state  of  things  is  not  because  we  go  out  of  the 
world,  but  because  its  fashion  or  form  passes  away.  In  vain  do  they 
allege  that  the  distress,  which  made  it  most  proper  to  omit  marriage, 
was  the  persecution  which  lay  on  the  Church,  making  the  times  diffi- 
cult ;  for  had  that  been  the  distress  to  which  the  Apostle  alluded,  the 
time  might  have  come  M'hen  they  might  marry  with  more  convenience. 
But  instead  of  that,  the  only  prospect  he  lays  before  them  is,  that  the 
time  was  fast  approaching  when  all  such  things  would  entirely  cease. 
The  distress  therefore,  or  necessity  was  on  the  other  side.  They  were 
so  lost  in  the  flesh,  and  had  so  little  power  over  it,  that  he  found  a 
necessity  to  leave  those  who  had  wives  to  live  in  that  order  for  the 
time  being.  "  Art  thou  bound  to  a  wife  ?  seek  not  to  be  loosed  ;"  and 
only  to  entreat  of  those  who  were  not  married,  to  remain  in  that  state. 
"  Art  thou  loosed  from  a  wife  ?  seek  not  a  wife.  And  that  only  by  re- 
quest, as  they  could  bear  no  more.  But  his  care  for  them,  seeing  the 
danger  to  which  they  were  exposed,  holds  him  to  expostulate  with 
them  5'et  more,  and  show  them  still  farther  the  advantages  of  the  siu- 
ale  life. 


GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST.  295 

"  But  I  would  have  you  without  carefulness.  [Or  free  from  perplex- 
ing cares,  d/xspiVvouj,  which  is  a  slate  incompatible  with  the  married 
life,  for]  He  that  is  unmarried,  carelh  for  the  things  that  belong  to  the 
Lord,  how  he  may  please  the  Lord.  But  he  that  is  married,  careth 
for  the  things  of  the  world,  how  he  may  please  his  wife.  There  is  dif- 
ference also  between  a  wife  and  a  virgin.  The  unmarried  woman  car- 
eth for  the  things  of  the  Lord,  that  she  may  be  holy,  both  in  body  and 
in  spirit;  [a  privilege  incompatible  with  the  married  life,  else  why  not 
the  married  woman  have  it  also .?]  but  she  that  is  married  careth  for 
the  things  of  the  world,  how  she  may  please  her  husband.  And  this  I 
say  for  your  own  profit ;  [or  convenience,  from  the  conviction  of  its 
truth  and  propriety,  with  great  tenderness  ;J  not  that  I  may  cast  a  snare 
upon  you,  [or  bring  you  under  any  unnecessary  trial  or  sufferings,]  but 
for  that  which  is  comely  [and  suitable  to  the  life  of  a  Christian]  and 
happily  corresponding  with  the  Lord,  [su^po'rfSfJpov  tw  Kupi'w,]  without 
[offering  any  thing  by]  violence:"  as  I  would  much  rather  g^in  you  to 
the  best  way  by  inviting  motives  than  by  violent  means.  Observe  the 
words,  That  ye  may  attend  upon  the  Lord,  are  a  forced  translation  with- 
out any  regular  foundation  in  the  Greek. 

So  that,  after  considering  the  subject  through,  and  on  every  hand, he 
has  maintained  his  position,  that  "  It  is  good  for  a  man  not  to  touch  a 
woman."  Add  to  these  things,  that  marriage  is  entirely  a  matter  of 
law,  and  not  of  Christianity  ;  those  therefore  who  marry,  being  pro- 
fessed Christians,  are  under  the  law,  and  serve  another  than  Christ. 
"The  wife  is  bound  by  the  law  [not  by  the  Gospel]  as  Ions;  as  her 
husband  liveth ;  but  if  her  husband  be  dead,  [or  hath  fallen  on  sleep, 
xojfx-y)^?],]  she  is  at  liberty  [according  to  the  same  law]  to  be  married  to 
whom  she  will."  But  still  it  was  better  not  to  marry  at  all  ;  therefore 
he  adds:  "But  she  is  happier  if  she  so  abide,  after  my  judgment;  and 
I  think  also  that  I  have  the  Spirit  of  God." 

But,  as  before  stated,  those  who  married  were  not  wholly  rejected, 
but  left  to  keep  their  own  order  in  the  outer  court.  What  was  cer- 
tainly required  of  every  one,  was  to  keep  faithfully  that  which  he 
professed.  For  although  there  was  no  finished,  salvation  or  perfect 
justification  to  be  obtained,  in  living  according  to  the  course  of  this 
world,  or  in  a  married  life,  yet  some  were  acknowledged  as  believers 
in  the  outer  court,  who  lived  in  that  manner ;  while  others  bore  a 
full  cross  against  the  flesh,  and  composed  the  inner  court,  or  temple. 
And  not  unlikely  some,  even  at  Corinth  ;  for  it  is  quite  a  reasonable 
conclusion,  that  some  would  be  found  so  far  devoted  to  Christ  and  his 
beloved  apostle,  as  to  feel  the  propriety  of  yielding  to  his  great  anx- 
iety for  their  spiritual  advantages,  and  of  living  as  he  lived,  when 
he  said,  I  would  that  all  men  were  even  as  myself. — Art  thou  loosed 
from  a  wife  .''  seek  not  a  wife — and,  I  would  have  you  without  carefulness. 

A  still  clearer  proof  of  these  two  orders  of  believers,  as  well  as 
that  marriage  in  no  respect  belongs  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  or  the  life 
of  a  Christian,  is  found  in  the  Apostle's  words  to  Timothy,  (1  Epist. 
V.  9,  &c.)  "  Let  not  a  widow  be  taken  into  the  number  under  three- 
score years  old,  having  been  the  wife  of  one  man,  [not  twice  mar- 
ried] well  reported  of  for  good  works  :  if  she  have  brought  up  chil- 
dren, if  she  have  lodged  strangers,  if  she  have  washed  the  saint's 
feet,  if  she  have  relieved  the  afflicted,  if  she  have  diligently  followed 


296  GENERATION    NOT    OF    CHRIST. 

every  good  work."  Now  this  could  not  be  merely  the  number  of 
widows  to  be  maintained  by  the  Church  ;  for  it  would  be  too  poor  a 
reason  for  not  taking  in  one  who  was  in  need,  that  she  was  not  sixty 
years  old,  or  that  in  the  days  of  her  ignorance  of  Christ  she  had  been 
a  wife  to  two  husbands. 

But  the  following  words  show  plainly  who  were  the  number  :  They 
whose  faith  was  not  to  marry,  but  to  live  in  continence  and  virgin 
purity,  after  the  example  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  Which  faith, 
any  one  who  possessed  it  would  necessarily  violate,  and  give  an  occa- 
sion to  the  adversary  to  reproach  the  profession,  by  marrying,  or 
showing  any  such  inclination.  "  But  the  younger  widows  refuse  ;  for 
when  they  have  begun  to  wax  wanton  against  Christ,  they  are  willing 
to  marry  ;  [jaij.s7v  dsXovcdv'j  having  damnation,  because  they  have  cast 
off  their  first  faith."  These  passions,  therefore,  which  incline  peo- 
ple to  marry,  especially  in  those  who  profess  to  follow  Christ  by 
bearing  a  full  cross,  are  wantonness  against  Christ.  Else  why  not  be 
willing  to  marry  without  waxing  wanton  against  Christ  f  And  why 
not  marry  withoiit  casting  off  their  first  faith,  if  that  first  faith  had  not 
been  contrary  to  marrying  ?  And  why  have  damnation  because  they 
cast  off  their  first  faith,  if  that  first  faith  had  been  unnecessary  or 
improper  .''  For  who  can  be  condemned  by  the  truth  for  doing  what 
is  right  ?     Not  one. 

No  solid  arguments  can  be  offered  against  this  reasoning,  or  in  sup- 
port of  marriage  as  being  consistent  with  pure  Christianity.  And 
when  they  became  willing  to  marry,  having  cast  off  their  first  faith, 
they  were  exposed  to  run  into  greater  evils  than  those  who  never 
pretended  to  any  such  faith  ;  "  And  withal  they  learn  to  be  idle,  wan- 
dering about  from  house  to  house  ;  and  not  only  idle,  but  tattlers 
also,  and  busy-bodies  ;  speaking  things  which  they  ought  not.  I  will, 
therefore,  [to  avoid  the  extravagant  and  greater  evils,]  that  the 
younger  widows  marry,  [there  is  no  authority  in  the  Greek  text  for 
the  term  woman,  it  not  being  in  the  text,  which  is  exclusively  of  wid- 
ows,^ bear  children,  guide  the  house,  [or  family,  in  a  manner  suitable 
to  that  order  which  they  are  able  to  keep,]  give  none  occasion  to  the 
adversary  to  speak  reproachfully,  [by  acting  contrary  to  what  they 
have  professed,  or  marrying  after  coming  into  the  number  of  those 
who  profess  a  contrary  faith.]  For  some  have  already  turned 
aside  after  Satan,"  having  consented  to  marry  after  professing  to  be 
of  that  number  which  is  the  true  Church,  bearing  a  full  cross,  there- 
fore receive  no  more  of  them,  except  the  aged  and  pious  characters 
above  described. 

And  as  for  the  younger,  "  If  any  man  or  woman  that  believeth, 
have  widows,  let  them  relieve  them,  and  let  not  the  Church  be 
charged  ;  that  it  may  relieve  them  that  are  widows  indeed."  "  Now, 
she  that  is  a  widow  indeed,  and  desolate,  trusteth  in  God,  and  continti- 
eth  in  supplications  and  prayers  night  and  day.  But  she  thatliveth  in 
pleasure  is  dead  while  she  liveth."  Now  4t  could  be  no  groimd  of 
reproach  to  a  Church,  who  have  no  faith  that  marriage  is  contrary  to 
genuine  Christianity,  for  one  of  their  young  widows  to  marry  ;  be- 
cause in  so  doing  she  would  violate  no  profession  of  faith,  and 
might  thereby  relieve  the  Church  of  expenses,  if  she  had  to  be  main- 
tained. 


MARRIAGE,    A    CIVIL    RIGHT.  297 

The  reason,  therefore,  that  the  Apostle  gave  counsel  for  the  young 
widows  to  marry,  is  clearly  to  avoid  more  distressing  evils.  It  is 
also  evident,  that  all  who  were  in  that  day  called  believers,  did  not 
keep  the  faith  in  a  full  cross,  as  did  the  apostles  and  some  others 
who  were  more  properly  the  Church ;  and  finally,  that  marrying  or 
living  in  the  works  thereof,  is  inconsistent  with  the  life  of  the  true 
followers  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER     IX. 

MARRIAGE,  A    CIVIL    RIGHT     AND  CARNAL    RELATION   OF    THE  WORLD, 
THEREFORE  DOES  NOT  BELONG  TO  THE   CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 

That  the  children  of  this  world,  distinctly  from  the  followers  of 
Christ,  should  marry,  is  quite  natural.  And  this  shows  what  mar- 
riage is,  and  to  what  class  it  belongs ;  that  it  is  a  civil  right  and  a 
civil  institution,  properly  belonging  to  the  citizens  of  the  world,  and 
therefore  the  privilege  of  every  man  who  chooses  to  use  it. 

That  it  properly  belongs  to  the  civil  department,  is  not  only  proved 
by  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  but  acknowledged  and  confirmed  by  the 
usage  of  civil  governments,  who  constantly  assume  the  sole  power  of 
regulating  marriage  among  all  classes  of  people,  determining  who 
may  perform  the  ceremony,  and  who  may  not,  who  may  be  married, 
and  who  may  not,  and  annexing  penalties  on  those  who  trangress  the 
prescribed  limitations.  And  this  is  the  case,  not  only  in  those  gov- 
ernments who  usurp  an  authority  over  the  conscience,  but  in  those 
wiser  and  more  happy  governments,  who  declare,  as  being  part  of 
their  constitution,  or  bill  of  rights,  that  no  civil  power  hath,  or  can 
have,  any  right  to  control  or  at  all  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of  con- 
science. 

Thus  the  civil  department  supports  this  position  :  That  marriage 
is  a  civil  right  and  a  civil  institution,  and  maintains  its  prerogative  in 
it.  And  professors  of  Christianity  also  acknowledge  this  prerogative, 
being  all  careful  to  regulate  their  marriages  according  to  the  limita- 
tions prescribed  by  law. 

The  act  also  of  marrying,  which  is  only  a  ceremonial  rite,  is  pro- 
perly of  a  civil  nature  ;  for,  notwithstanding  the  civil  department,  at 
least  in  free  governments,  leaves  every  class  of  people,  or  every  indi- 
vidual, to  his  own  choice,  in  what  manner  to  perform  it,  it  is  never- 
theless the  confirming  and  guarantying  of  a  civil  right  between  the 
parties,  and  he  or  they  who  ofiiciate  therein,  do  it  by  the  sanction  of 
the  civil  department,  and  are  thereby  properly  civil  officers.  Some 
of  the  ministerial  order  have  had  light  to  see  into  this  so  far,  as  to 
have  serious  reflections  about  giving  up  the  business  of  marrying 
people,  (thus  far  at  least  in  one  of  my  acquaintance  ;)  but  the  next 


298  MARRIAGE,    A    CIVIL    RIGHT. 

natural  consequence  is,  that  provided  it  is  improper  for  a  preaclier 
of  the  Gospel  to  marry  others,  it  is  also  improper  for  him  to  be  mar- 
ried ;  but  this  is  too  crossing  to  the  flesh,  to  be  sanctioned  by  the 
example  of  those  who  prefer  the  flesh  to  the  Spirit. 

Marriage  being  the  privilege  of  all  people  who  choose  to  use  it,  no 
one  man,  or  association  of  men,  have  any  right  to  forbid  or  require  any 
one  to  marry  :  in  this  respect  every  man's  faith  is  his  law;  if  he  marry, 
he  shall  deprive  no  other  man  or  people  of  their  equal  civil  rights,  and 
if  not,  it  remains  the  same.  If,  therefore,  any  man  choose  to 
marry,  and  so  to  be  of  the  children  of  this  world,  none  have  any  right 
to  forbid  him  :  his  faith  is  his  law.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  if  any 
one  choose  to  abstain  from  marrying,  that  he  may  follow  Christ  in 
the  regeneration,  (every  one  knows  this  is  not  contrary  to  the  exam- 
ple of  Christ,)  and  be  counted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world  and  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  none  have  any  right  to  interfere  with  or 
control  him,  or  on  that  account  to  interrupt  him  in  the  use  of  any 
other  civil  right  or  privilege  :  his  faith  is  his  law.  It  is  an  evident 
truth,  that  no  one,  by  omitting  the  use  or  enjoyment  of  any  civil 
right,  gives  any  just  occasion  to  be  deprived  of  another.  For  in- 
stance, the  possessing  of  landed  property  is  a  civil  right;  but  should 
any  man  or  people  believe  it  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity  to 
hold  personal  or  private  landed  property,  and  so  refuse  to  do  it,  for 
conscience'  sake,  would  it  be  presumed  that,  on  that  account,  he 
could  justly  be  deprived  of  the  liberty  of  worshipping  God  according 
to  his  own  faith,  which  is  a  civil  and  natural  right,  or  of  buying  and 
selling  common  property,  which  is  a  civil  and  natural  right,  or  even 
of  marrying,  which  is  also  a  civil  and  natural  right  .?     Certainly  not. 

But  the  unquestionable  privilege  of  all  men,  according  to  the  very 
nature  of  their  civil  rights,  to  marry  and  be  of  the  children  of  this 
world,  can  never  introduce  a  civil  right  or  civil  institution  into  the 
Church  of  Christ,  or  incorporate  it  with  his  law  and  order.  Neither 
can  that,  or  any  other  reason,  make  it  criminal  or  unchristian,  in  the 
Church  and  ministers  of  Christ,  who  preach  by  commission  from  him, 
to  maintain  that  marrying,  or  living  in  that  order,  according  to  the 
course  of  this  world,  is  contrary  to  the  faith  and  order  of  Christ,  or 
to  require,  by  the  faith  of  Christ,  not  by  civil  authority,  that  all  those 
who  unite  with  them,  and  profess  to  be  of  the  body  of  Christ,  should 
conscientiously  and  scrupulously  abstain  from  everything  of  that  na- 
ture. It  is  just  for  a  man  to  profess  to  be  what  he  is.  Each  man  is 
left  to  his  own  choice,  whether  he  will  follow  Christ  or  the  world,  and 
at  liberty  to  act  his  own  faith  ;  but  no  man's  faith  or  choice  can  alter 
the  faith  and  order  of  Christ  ;  it  may  and  must  finally  determine  the 
man's  own  condition  ;  but  the  faith  of  Christ  must  remain  inviolable  ; 
and  whoever  possesses  that  faith,  is  counted  worthy  to  obtain  that 
world  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  those  accounted 
worthy  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage. 

No  matter  what  any  man  professes,  as  belonging  to  the  faith  of 
Christ  or  worship  of  God,  which  does  not  interfere  with  the  rights  of 
others,  so  as  to  be  any  just  cause  of  grievance,  no  civil  or  arbitrary 
power  has  any  right  to  molest  him  ;  but  to  require  the  people  or 
ministers  of  Christ,  preaching  under  commission  from  him,  to  ac- 
knowledge, as  belonging  to  the  faith  or  work  of  Christ,  any  thing  or 


MARRIAGE,    A    CIVIL    RIGHT.  299 

every  tting  which  any  man  should  propose,  as  agreeable  to  him,  or  to 
cede  any  part  of  the  faith  or  doctrine  of  Christ,  or  which  they  preach 
as  by  commission  from  him,  to  accommodate  the  Gospel  testimony  to 
the  feelings  or  choice  of  others,  is  in  effect  to  give  every  man  the  pre- 
eminence over  Christ,  and  subjugate  the  Gospel  testimony  to  the  will 
of  man.  Whatever  therefore  belongs  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  his 
Church  not  only  have  a  right,  but  are  under  the  most  solemn  obliga- 
tion to  God,  to  maintain  ;  and  if  any  man  or  people  hold  errors,  and 
call  them  truth,  arguments  founded  on  Scripture  and  sound  reason, 
or  the  gift  and  power  of  God,  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
are  the  only  justifiable  weapons  with  which  to  oppose  such  errors  ; 
and  these  the  faithful  have  a  right  to  ply  with  freedom. 

No  man  can  serve  two  masters.  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the 
Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh ;  and  these  are  contrary  the 
one  to  the  other.  "  He  that  soweth  to  the  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh 
reap  corruption ;  and  he  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit,  shall  of  the  Spirit 
reap  life  everlasting."  Thus  every  man  must  make  choice  for  him- 
self, and  be  rewarded  accordingly. 

If  marriage  be  not  a  civil  right,  and  free  to  all  citizens,  or  if  it  be  a 
Christian  institution,  none  but  Christians  have  any  right  to  it.  But 
on  the  contrary,  if  it  be  a  civil  right  and  a  civil  institution,  which  few 
if  any  will  deny,  it  is  no  part  of  the  Christian  faith  or  economy,  unless 
introduced  by  the  Author  of  Christianity,  which  has  not  been  done, 
but  expressly  excluded,  as  has  been  shown.  It  may  then  be  inquired, 
with  the  utmost  propriety.  What  authority  or  pretence  have  any  who 
profess  Christianity,  to  introduce  into  the  Church  a  civil  institution, 
or  ceremony,  which  Christ  has  not  required  at  their  hand  ?  Who  have 
any  right  to  require  any  class  of  professed  Christians  to  use  any  civil 
right,  which  they  consider  improper  for  them  and  inconsistent  with 
their  calling  ?  What  power  has  any  right  to  assume  the  prerogative 
over  the  consciences  of  any  class  of  professed  Christians,  to  subject 
them  to  inconveniences  or  deprive  them  of  their  civil  rights,  because 
they  choose  to  omit  one  or  more,  as  being  inconsistent  with  their 
calling,  while  at  the  same  time,  they  leave  all  people  to  an  equal  free- 
dom of  choice,  and  neither  usurp  nor  claim  any  authority  or  influence 
over  any  individuals,  contrary  to  their  own  faith  and  choice  ? 

If,  therefore,  any  people,  for  the  sake  of  following  Christ  more  per- 
fectly, choose  not  to  marry,  or  if  married,  choose  not  to  live  after  the 
flesh,  because  they  believe  such  a  life  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  faith 
and  order  of  Christ ;  in  the  mean  time  considering  and  maintaining  it  a 
matter  of  free  choice  and  faith  with  all  others,  according  to  their  natural 
and  civil  rights,  whether  to  be  one  with  them  or  not ;  do  such  people 
violate  any  j)rinciple  of  a  free  government  in  so  doing .''  Certainly 
not.  On  what  foundation  of  justice,  or  according  to  the  free  and 
liberal  principles  of  the  American  government,  can  they  be  accused 
or  subjected  to  oppressions  or  grievances,  by  giving  their  opposers 
legal  advantage  against  them  .?  Yet  this  has  been  attempted  by  some, 
who  savour  the  spirit,  not  of  Christ,  but  of  Antichristian  tyranny. 

An  additional  and  very  striking  proof  that  marriage  does  not  belong 
to  the  Church  of  Christ,  but  is  entirely  of  the  world,  is  contained  in 
the  measures  taken  by  the  apostates  in  the  latter  times  to  establish 
their  reputation,  and  perhaps  their  hope  as  Christians.     "Now  the 


300  MARRIAGE,    A    CIVIL    RIGHT. 

Spirit  speaketli  expressly,  tliat  in  the  latter  times  certain  shall  apos- 
tatize from  the  faith,  yielding  ['irpocfixo'UTSs']  to  seducing  spirits  [or 
'tfvs^ixaa'i  "TrXocvoif,  erroneous  spirits]  and  doctrines  of  demons,  who 
speak  lies  in  hypocrisy,  [or  through  the  hypocrisy  of  liars,]  who  have 
their  own  consciences  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron,  who  forbid  to  marry, 
[and  require  or  command]  to  abstain  from  meats  which  God  hath 
created  to  be  received  with  thanksgiving  of  those  who  believe  and 
know  the  truth."  (1  Tim.  iv.  1,  &c.) 

A  material  point  in  effecting  a  well-concerted  plan  of  forgery  is  to 
retain  all  the  most  noted  and  conspicuous  characters  of  the  original. 
When,  therefore,  the  Antichristian  church  prevailed,  having  lost  the 
true  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  having,  for  that  reason,  no  longer  any  power 
over  the  spirit  of  the  world,  and  their  members  being  all  carried  away 
with  the  lust  of  concupiscence,  so  as  to  lose  every  appearance  of  the 
followers  of  Christ  and  the  reputed  Church,  or  rather  chief  bishop, 
now  reigning  with  absolute  power,  nothing  appeared  more  eligible,  or 
better  calculated  to  maintain  some  resemblance  of  the  Christian 
Church  than  to  forbid  to  marry,  and  to  require  to  abstain  from 
meats,  or  to  keep  fasts,  which  was  also  a  practice  of  the  ancient 
Church,  that  they  might  restrain,  by  the  force  or  energy  of  law,  those 
passions  which  they  had  no  longer  any  power  of  the  Spirit  to  crucify. 
But  as  the  apostles  bore  with  many  in  a  certain  degree,  and  acknow- 
ledged them  as  believers,  though  in  a  more  distant  relation,  as  the 
outer  court ;  and  as  they  only  who  lived  in  the  first  order  abstained 
from  marriage  and  the  works  of  the  flesh  entirely,  as  did  the  apostles 
and  others,  who  were  the  true  Church  in  that  day;  so  the  law  prohi- 
biting marriage  extended  only  to  the  foremost  class  of  professors,  and 
to  the  whole  of  the  priesthood,  all  of  whom  are  bound  by  law  who  un- 
dertake to  live  in  that  order,  and  also  by  oath,  with  all  the  rest  of  the 
monastic  order. 

Thus  arbitrary  measures  became  substitutes  for  the  faith  and  Spirit 
of  Christ  since  these  have  been  lost,  to  preserve  as  much  as  possible 
the  resemblance  of  the  Christian  Church.  These  things  having  taken 
place  early  in  the  apostacy,  while  the  order  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
was  yet  known,  are  a  striking  proof  that  marriage  has  no  part  in  that 
Church,  but  is  of  the  world. 

The  following  extract  from  an  Epistolary  Discussion  on  Religion, 
between  a  Protestant  and  a  Catholic,  which  fell  into  my  hands  a  few 
days  after  I  had  written  the  above  statement,  elucidates  and  confirms 
it,  by  the  Catholic's  own  words.  In  his  reply  to  the  Protestant,  who 
complained  that  the  law  of  the  monastic  orders  was  arbitrary  and 
cruel,  he  says :  "  The  promoters  of  the  disciplinary  law  that  prescribes 
it,  had  undoubtedly  a  commendable  intention :  they  wished  them  to  be 
angels-like  who  angelical  functions  exercise ;  but  considering  its  in- 
conveniences, they  had  better  perhaps  been  ruled  by  St.  Paul's  doc- 
trine, satisfied  with  giving  it  as  a  counsel,  not  as  a  command." 

But  a  proper  understanding  of  this  subject  at  one  stroke  exonerates 
the  people  who  refuse  to  marry  for  the  sake  of  Christ  and  his  cross 
from  the  charge  of  forbidding  to  marry,  inasmuch  as  what  they  teach 
and  practise  amounts  to  this  :  That  every  thing  ought  to  be  kept  in  its 
proper  place,  and  treated  according  to  its  own  order,  so  as  to  stand  or 
fall  therewith.     Can  any  suppose  that  this  is  to  depart  from  the  faith 


MARRIAGE,    A    CIVIL    RIGHT.  301 

of  Christ,  to  do  as  he  did,  for  the  purpose  of  obedience  to  him  ?  Or 
is  a  man  guilty  of  speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy  for  living  up  to  what  he 
Tbelieves  and  testifies  is  right  ?  and  not  rather  he  who  testifies  one  thing 
and  practises  another  ?  as  all  those  do  who  profess  to  he  of  the  family 
of  Christ  and  to  follow  him  in  the  Spirit  while  they  live  after  the  flesh, 
according  to  the  first  Adam,  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  as  it  is 
written  of  that  order  :    They  twain  shall  be  one  flesh. 

Can  any  people  be  justly  charged  with  forbidding  to  marry,  or  of  in- 
truding on  the  rights  of  others,  by  testifying  that  marriage  does  not 
belong  to  the  followers  of  Christ,  and  living  according  to  that  testimony, 
declaring  all  the  time  that  it  is  a  matter  of  pure  faith,  without  force  or 
commandment,  in  every  one  who  chooses  to  walk  in  that  order  ?  If 
this  be  the  case,  by  parity  of  reason,  whatever  any  people  profess,  be 
it  false  or  true,  and  maintain  it  to  be  necessary  to  Christianity,  living 
accordingly,  such  people,  by  so  doing,  forbid  all  others  to  practise 
contrary  to  that  profession,  and  thus  the  faith  of  Christ  is  turned  into 
a  law  of  commandments,  contrary  to  the  whole  nature  and  plan  of  Gos- 
pel invitation — Whosoever  will,  let  him.  For  let  truth  be  what  it 
may,  those  who  are  Christians  indeed  must  have  it,  not  only  in  pro- 
fession but  possession,  holding  the  truth  in  righteousness  ;  and  accord- 
ing to  the  aforesaid  conception  of  forbidding,  they  necessarily  forbid 
all  others  to  deviate  from  them,  even  those  who  make  no  pretensions 
to  Christianity  as  well  as  those  who  differ  from  them  in  the  profession 
of  it. 

It  will  be  granted,  on  the  principle  of  equal  rights,  that  all  orders 
of  professed  Christians  have  a  right  to  institute  their  own  order  of 
worship,  or,  to  speak  more  consistently  with  giving  Christ  the  pre- 
eminence, to  learn  of  him  what  is  the  true  worship  of  God,  and  to  re- 
quire all  who  undertake  to  be  of  that  body,  and  of  the  same  faith  with 
them,  to  live  according  to  that  faith,  otherwise  not  pretend  to  be  of 
them.  Those,  therefore,  whose  faith  is  not  to  marry,  or  live  after  the 
course  of  this  world,  because  of  its  being  contrary  to  the  faith  and  order 
of  Christ,  have  an  indisputable  right  to  require  all  those  who  profess 
their  faith,  and  desire  to  be  joined  with  them,  to  live  according  to  that 
faith,  and  to  abstain  from  every  thing  contrary  thereto,  or  else  not 
pretend  to  be  of  that  people.  And  this  is  perfectly  consistent  with 
the  faith  and  law  of  Christ,  as  well  as  the  utmost  natural  freedom  of 
every  man's  conscience.  Neither  has  it  any  relation  to  forbidding 
others  to  do  what  they  in  substance  practised  themselves,  or  enjoining 
on  others  that  abstinence  and  self-denial  which  they  themselves  did 
not  keep  ;  to  which  may  be  added,  as  contained  in  that  forbidding,  the 
subverting  of  the  Spirit  and  faith  of  the  Gospel,  by  undertaking  to  ef- 
fect by  arbitrary  measures  what  they  were  unable  to  do  by  the  faith  of 
the  Gospel,  in  consequence  of  their  having  lost  the  Spirit  and  power 
by  apostatizing  from  the  faith  of  Christ.  "  Speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy, 
having  their  conscience  seared  with  a  hot  iron,  forbidding  to  marry." 
But  when  people  live  according  to  what  they  teach  and  profess,  bear- 
ing a  living  testimony  against  the  flesh,  and  all  evil,  they  neither  speak 
lies  in  hypocrisy  nor  have  their  conscience  seared.* 

*  The  foregoing  explanation  is  given  in  conformity  with  our  common  trans- 
lation of  this  text ;  but,  for  the  better  understanding  of  those  who  wish  to  come 


302  MARKIAGE,    A    CIVIL    RIGHT. 

Seeing  that  marriage  is  a  civil  right  of  the  world,  and  not  a  Christian 

institution,  for  professed  Christians  to  marry  or  claim  it  as  their  pro- 
vince involves,  among  other  things,  the  following  absurd  principles : 
In  the  first  place,  it  reflects  disgrace  on  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and 
charges  God  with  affording  only  a  scanty  and  insufficient  portion  to 
its  subjects,  and  alleging  that  the  inheritance  of  God's  people,  by  the 
Gospel,  including  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which 
is  to  come,  is  so  unsatisfying  that  it  can  be  made  more  perfect  by  the 
addition  of  fleshly  pleasures,  they  therefore  count  it  expedient  for  the 
completion  of  their  happiness  to  add  the  pittance  of  pleasure  which 
belongs  to  the  world.  Secondly.  It  is  an  attempt  to  rob  the  world 
of  the  pittance  of  inheritance  which  is  allowed  to  them;  as  it  is  said: 
the  fatness  of  the  earth  shall  be  thy  portion — but  not  of  heaven  ;  and 
thus  claim,  ungenerously,  an  inheritance  which  is  not  theirs.  Thirdly. 
It  is  an  attempt  to  serve  two  masters,  Christ  and  Adam,  contrary  to 
the  express  words  of  Christ:  (for  Christ  and  Adam  are  not  one  :)  to 
serve  Adam  by  doing  his  work,  multiplying  and  replenishing  the  earth, 
or  propagating  the  people  of  the  world,  while  presuming  to  serve 
Christ,  whom  the  world  hates. 

Now  Christ  is  of  the  Father,  and  not  of  the  world  ;  for  if  he  were  of 
the  world  it  would  love  him ;  and  if  his  people  were  of  the  world  it 
would  love  them;  but,  according  to  his  own  words,  they  are  not  of  the 
world,  even  as  he  is  not  of  the  world  ;  and  therefore  the  world  hates 
them.  As  really,  therefore,  and  as  correctly  as  Jesus  Christ  is  not  of 
the  world,  but  of  the  Father,  so  really  and  correctly  are  his  people, 
the  children  of  God,  not  of  the  world,  but  of  the  Father,  being  born  not 
of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God. 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  first,  the  foundation  on  which  others  are  built,  the 
head  of  the  body,  to  whom  his  people  are  joined  in  one  body  and  one 
Spirit,  and  are  therefore  no  more  of  their  first  father  Adam,  but  have 
renounced  him,  and  all  relation  to  him,  and  are  of  God,  the  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

But  the  pressing,  heavy  objection  with  the  advocates  for  Christians 
marrying  comes  in  the  following  train  :  That  those  who  maintain  that 
marriage  is  inconsistent  with  the  faith  of  Christ,  by  so  doing  exclude 
all  who  differ  from  them  from  the  salvation  of  Christ,  and  thus  con- 
demn the  whole  world  except  themselves.  Let  this  consequence  be 
granted  for  a  moment ;  does  that  prove  the  testimony  false  .'  or  that 
those  who  bear  it  prohibit  others  from  living  according  to  their  own 

at  the  truth,  we  would  remark  that,  according  to  some  of  the  most  eminent  cri- 
tics, the  translation,  Forbidding  to  marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain,  from  meats, 
is  found  to  be  erroneous.  The  words,  and  commanding,  are  an  unwarrantable 
supply,  and  only  became  necessary  in  consequence  of  the  wrong  translation  of 
the  Greek  word  KwXuovtwv,  which  is  rendered  forbidding ;  but  which,  literally, 
signifies  binding,  confining,  or  constraining ;  so  that  the  original  text,  if  rightly 
translated,  would  read  in  plain  EngUsh,  binding  or  constraining  to  marry,  to  ab- 
stain from  meats,  &c.  Hence,  the  plain  and  obvious  import  of  this  text  is,  that 
those  apostates  from  the  true  faith  of  Christ  would  bind,  constrain  or  confine 
their  adherents  to  the  carnal  marriage  of  the  flesh,  contrary  to  that  life  of  virgin 
purity  and  spiritual  union  in  Christ,  which  is  the  true  m.eat  of  Christ  and  his  fol- 
lowers ;  that  meat  which  God  has  provided  "  for  those  who  believe  and  know  the 
truth.'"  Eds. 


MARRIAGE,    A    CIVIL    RIGHT.  303 

faith  ?  or,  was  Noah  in  an  error  when  "by  faith  being  warned  of  God 
of  things  not  seen  as  yet,  he  was  moved  with  fear,  and  prepared  an  ark 
to  the  saving  of  his  house  ;  by  tlie  which  he  condemned  the  world,  and 
became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith  ?"  Had  the  testi- 
mony of  Noah  been  false,  what  injury  could  it  have  done  the  people  ? 
Those  who  had  no  faith  at  all  in  him  no  doubt  made  themselves  easy. 
In  like  manner,  the  testimony  of  those  who  have  the  faith  of  Christ's 
second  appearing,  if  not  true,  need  not  disturb  any  ;  because  none  are 
required  to  obey  it  contrary  to  their  own  faith.  The  great  uneasiness, 
therefore,  and  vigorous  opposition  to  the  testimony  must  spring  mainly 
from  the  evidence  and  conviction  of  its  truth,  especially  in  those  who 
know  what  it  is,  and  still  oppose. 

If  Christianity  must  not  be  professed  in  that  order  or  to  that  degree, 
that  it  will  condemn  the  world,  it  cannot  exist  on  the  earth  ;  for  Christ 
is  not  of  the  world,  and  the  world  hates  him,  because  he  testifies  to 
the  world,  that  their  works  are  evil ;  and  if  they  have  hated  him,  they 
will  hate  his  followers  also  ;  for  as  he  is  not  of  the  world,  even  so  they 
are  not  of  the  world.  And  this  is  their  testimony  :  "  We  know  that 
we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness."  (1  Jno.  v. 
19.)  Christianity  therefore  and  truth  condemn  the  world;  not  men, 
by  their  own  power  or  holiness,  or  by  any  thing  which  they  can  arro- 
gate to  themselves  ;  but  the  faith  and  work  of  Christ  which  they  pos- 
sess, and  the  testimony  of  truth  which  they  bear.  And  this  condem- 
nation is  not  for  the  injury  of  mankind  ;  it  is  really  necessary  that 
men  be  condemnetl  by  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  ;  for  unless  con- 
demned by  it,  they  will  never  seek  nor  obtain  justification  and  life  by 
faith  and  obedience  to  it.  This  condemnation,  therefore,  is  not  final 
to  any,  except  those  who  make  it  so  by  disobedience  ;  but  persever- 
ance in  disobedience,  during  the  accepted  time  and  day  of  salvation, 
which  none  know  how  soon  will  end,  as  to  them,  must  prove  final  con- 
demnation.    Once  more  : 

It  is  alleged,  that  to  testify  that  marriage,  or  living  after  the  course 
of  the  world,  is  not  living  according  to  the  example  of  Christ,  implies 
forbidding  to  marry  ;  because  those  who  testify  it  maintain  that  they 
do  it  according  to  the  mind  of  God,  and  by  commission  from  him. 
Therefore,  say  the  adversaries,  these  people  forbid  to  marry  by  the 
authority  of  God.  I  have  already  opened  this  matter,  and  answered 
this  objection.  But  why  cannot  people  understand,  that  these  people 
allege  no  commission  from  God,  to  require  any  to  submit  to  their 
testimony,  contrary  to  their  own  faith  and  consequent  choice,  always 
declaring  it  a  matter  of  the  most  free  choice  with  every  one,  whether 
to  follow  Christ  or  not  ?  There  is  no  arbitrary  force  nor  compulsion 
in  the  Gospel  ministry.  Christ's  people  are  a  luilUng  people  in  the 
day  of  his  power.  (Psa.  ex.  3.)  Probably  no  word  in  the  Hebrew 
language  could  more  amply  express  the  uncompelled,  fair  and  delib- 
erate choice  of  a  people,  than  that  which  is  here  translated  willing. 
And  though  every  one  who  makes  choice  of  the  Gospel  is  compelled, 
or  rather  constrained  and  engaged  by  motive,  contrary  to  his  fallen 
nature,  his  choice  is  in  the  event  most  free. 

Yea,  says  the  disputer  ;  you  say  people  may  act  their  faith  ;  but 
you  maintain  that  out  of  the  faith  which  you  have,  no  man  can  be 
saved.     What  then  ^     Must  any  people  renounce  their  faith  to  please 


304  MARRIAGE,    A    CIVIL    RIGHT. 

otliers  ?  "  For  why  is  my  liberty  judged  of  another  man's  con- 
science r"  Or  must  the  cross  and  self-denial  of  Christ  be  removed 
out  of  his  Gospel,  that  it  may  be  adapted  to  the  lovers  of  pleasure  ? 
Is  the  way  of  Christ  too  straight  ?  or  must  it  be  widened  to  procure 
the  carnal  mind  and  the  order  of  the  flesh  admittance  into  heaven  ? 
Is  anything  under  the  heavens  more  reasonable  or  just,  than  that 
every  man  should  have  his  free  choice,  when  the  consequences  on 
each  hand  are  laid  before  him  ?  Those  who  are  offended  with  be- 
lievers in  Christ's  second  appearing,  for  renouncing  the  first  Adam 
and  his  works,  if  they  believe  there  is  salvation  for  them  in  Adam, 
let  them  cleave  to  him.  But  as  we  believe  that  Christ,  and  none  else, 
is  the  salvation  of  God  to  us,  let  us  at  least  have  the  privilege  of 
cleaving  to  him.  It  is  our  unshaken  faith  that  in  Adam,  or  anywhere 
one  side  of  the  faith  of  Christ,  salvation  is  not  known,  and  cannot  be 
found. 

I  have  looked,  my  spirit  has  inquired,  is  there  no  access  to  the 
children  of  the  flesh,  who  dote  on  the  perishing  and  polluted  fancies 
of  the  earth,  as  if  there  were  no  better  inheritance  .''  But  can  that 
old  serpent,  called  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  be  convinced  of  the  propri- 
ety, and  subjected  to  the  duty  of  obeying  God  .''  They  are  his  chil- 
dren, and  he  is  their  father  and  governor.  They  have  no  room  for 
God  in  all  they  do.  But  if  the  serpent  cannot  be  convinced  of  the 
propriety,  or  subjected  to  the  duty  of  obeying  God,  the  wisdom  of 
God  is  able  to  supplant  him,  and  will  do  it ;  and  the  power  of  God 
in  the  Gospel  is  able  to  overthrow  and  dispossess  him,  and  to  redeem 
his  subjects  from  his  slavery  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of 
God,  that  they  may  inherit  substance.  And  the  work  is  begun  which 
will  effectually  dethrone  the  old  serpent,  and  bring  those  who  willing- 
ly yield  obedience  to  him  now,  and  contemptuously  neglect  and  spurn 
at  salvation  by  the  cross  of  Christ,  to  beg  with  remorse  of  heart  and 
bitterness  of  spirit,  for  an  interest  and  a  privilege  in  the  same  Gospel 
which  they  now  despise,  and  those  who  come  not  too  late,  to  be  hum- 
ble, contrite  and  thankful  when  they  are  admitted. 

Those  who  are  determined  on  the  pleasures  of  the  flesh,  at  the  risk 
of  salvation,  have  their  liberty  to  proceed  accordingly  ;  and  those 
who  are  determined  on  salvation,  at  the  expense  of  all,  according  to 
the  doctrine  of  Christ,  are  not  going  to  put  themselves  out  of  the  way 
because  of  a  testimony  against  the  flesh  or  against  Christians  marry- 
ing. They  have  respect  to  the  recompense  of  reward,  and  are  not 
afraid  of  being  losers  by  giving  up  all  for  Christ.  They  receive  faith 
in  God  and  in  his  promise  :  That  no  good  thing  will  he  withhold  from 
them  that  walk  uprightly. 

Those  who  know  the  way  of  God  and  keep  it,  are  able  to  talk  like 
the  people  of  God  ;  "  We  know  that  we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole 
world  lieth  in  wickedness  ;"  [sv  tw  *ov'/]pu,  in  the  wicked  one  ;]  "We  , 
are  of  God  ;  he  that  knoweth  God,  heareth  us  ;  he  that  is  not  of  God 
heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know  we  the  Spirit  of  truth  and  the  Spirit 
of  error."  Those  who  cannot  adopt  such  language,  are  their  own 
witnesses,  that  they  lack  an  unshaken  confidence  that  they  know  the 
truth  and  keep  it. 

There  is  one  Christ,  therefore  one  way  to  the  Father,  one  truth, 
one  life,  one  faith,  one  body  and  one  Spirit ;  to  pretend,  therefore, to 


Christ's  people  not  of  this  world.  305 

be  in  tlie  way,  and  in  the  truth,  and  yet  to  believe  that  others  are  in 
the  same  Way,  who  have  a  different  faith,  and  consequently  a  diflFerent 
life,  in  matters  of  so  great  consequence  as  to  cause  a  separation,  is  too 
absurd  to  find  a  residence  with  reasonable  men.  But  as  it  remains 
true  that  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit,  and  that  the  true  Gospel  is 
best  known  by  the  fruits  which  it  must  unfailingly  bring  forth,  where- 
ever  it  is,  let  all  those  who  would  deal  honestly  with  themselves,  cease 
to  contend  about  smaller  matters,  and  no  longer  reject  truth  for  fear 
of  the  cross,  but  lay  hold  of  that  Gospel  which  produces  its  proper 
fruits — purity,  holiness,  righteousness  and  peace. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Christ's  people  not  of  this  world. 

To  bring  this  subject  to  a  close,  and  to  show,  as  in  one  compen- 
dious view,  the  discriminating  line  of  separation  between  the  Church 
of  Christ  and  all  other  people,  whether  professors  or  not,  the  last 
characteristic  which  I  shall  here  state,  and  the  pre-eminent,  in  which 
all  others  are  included,  is  this.  That  his  people  are  not  of  this  world. 
"  They  are  not  of  the  world  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world.'''' 

It  is  generally  granted,  in  loose  terms,  that  the  people,  or  Church 
of  Christ,  are  not  of  the  world;  but  few  consider  in  what  respect, 
and  by  what  distinguishing  mark  or  characteristic,  it  may  be  known 
that  they  are  not  of  the  world.  The  distinction  is  generally  viewed, 
or  contemplated,  as  being  internal  in  the  Spirit,  and  therefore  invisi- 
ble, so  that  the  people  of  God  cannot  be  known  or  distinguished  by 
physical  or  merely  natural  men  ;  a,s  if  an  internal  work  would  not  be 
cleaidy  manifested  by  its  visible  effects.  "  They  are  not  of  the  world, 
even  as  lam  not  of  the  world.''''  As  clear  a  line  of  distinction  there- 
fore as  there  is  between  Christ  and  the  world,  so  clear  is  the  same 
line  of  distinction  between  his  Church  and  the  world :  for  they  do  as 
he  said  ;  Deny  themselves,  take  up  their  cross  daily,  and  follow  him  in 
his  footsteps  where  the  world  cannot  go. 

This  discriminating  line  is  so  manifest  that  the  world  can  see  it, 
and  discern  the  people  of  God  from  the  world,  and  know  that  they 
are  not  of  them  nor  of  their  order  ;  that  they  have  put  off  the  old 
man  with  his  deeds,  and  have  forsaken  the  world  for  Christ's  sake.  No 
matter  if  the  world  call  them  devils,  or  impostors  and  deceivers,  as 
they  did  their  master,  they  know  them,  and  can  discover  that  they 
have  gone  away  from  them.  They  cannot  always  discover,  in  every 
case,  who  will  follow  Christ  to  the  end;  but  they  can  observe  the 
course  which  people  must  take,  to  come  out  of  the  world  and  follow 
Christj  or  be  his  chosen.  The  world  can  see  the  Church  of  Christ 
distinctly  enough  to  know  that  they  are  not  of  them,  and  to  hate  them 
for  that  only  reason  ;  because  they  are  not  of  the  world.  Thus  they 
21 


306  Christ's  people  not  of  this  world. 

hate  his  people  as  they  hated  him — without  a  cause.  "  If  the  world 
hate  you,  ye  know  that  it  hated  me  before  it  hated  you.  If  ye  were 
of  the  world,  the  world  would  love  his  own  ;  hut  because  ye  are  not 
of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world,  therefore  the 
world  hateth  you."   (Jno.  xv.  18,  19.) 

Now  it  was  not  the  man  Jesus  whom  the  world  hated  ;  "  For  he  in- 
creased in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favour  with  God  and  man." 
(Luke  ii.  52.)  But  they  hated  the  doctrine  of  the  cross;  so  that 
when  he  showed  the  way  of  the  cross,  they  hated  him  for  that — they 
hated  and  reproached  that  God,  even  the  Father  who  dwelt  in  him, 
as  it  is  written:  The  reproaches  of  them  that  reproached  thee  are  fallen 
upon  me.  Thus  the  world,  or  the  spirit  of  the  world,  in  all  men, 
hates  the  cross  of  Christ,  because  it  is  not  of  the  world,  and  requires 
those  who  would  be  saved  to  deny  themselves,  to  walk  not  according 
to  the  flesh  or  works  of  the  world,  but  according  to  the  Spirit  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus.  In  like  manner,  the  world  do  not  hate  the  men  and 
women  who  follow  Christ,  abstractedly ;  but  they  hate  the  Spirit  and 
cross  of  Christ :  were  it  not  for  the  cross,  they  could  love  them  as 
well  as  other  people  ;  for  take  away  the  cross,  and  all  men  would  be 
of  the  world.  The  followers  of  Christ  would  be  esteemed  courteous 
and  comely  in  all  things,  were  it  not  for  the  hated  cross.  But  the 
spirit  of  the  world  can  never  be  reconciled  with  the  cross  of  Christ, 
therefore  the  men  of  the  world  can  never  have  fellowship  with  the 
people  of  God. 

The  Church  of  God,  therefore,  have  a  living  testimony,  which  is 
the  word  of  God  preached,  and  which  draws  a  discriminating  line  of 
separation  between  them  and  the  people  of  the  world,  so  that  not  on- 
ly they  themselves  can  see  it,  but  the  world  can  see  and  feel  the  sep- 
aration, and  hate  the  Church  of  Christ.  "  I  have  given  them  thy 
word ;  and  the  world  hath  hated  them,  because  they  are  not  of  the 
world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world."  (Jno.  xvii.  14.)  The  man, 
therefore,  or  the  people  of  whatever  name  or  denomination,  however 
zealous  or  bold  in  the  profession  of  Christianity,  and  however  great 
degrees  of  power  they  may  have  experienced  or  witnessed,  if* they 
have  not  such  a  living  testimony  in  word  and  works,  as  to  let  the 
world  see  and  know  by  their  preaching  and  their  lives,  that  they  are 
not  of  the  world,  but  are  called  or  chosen  out  of  the  world  to  follow 
Christ,  they  fall  short  of  the  mark  of  Christ's  Church  :  in  vain  do 
men  profess  Christianity  without  possessing  the  substance. 

But  on  what  principle  are  the  Church  of  Christ  not  of  the  world, 
as  really  so  as  he  is  not  of  the  world .''  In  the  first  place  ;  because  they 
have  rejected  the  first  Adam,  the  father  of  the  world,  with  all  his 
works,  and  have  put  on  Christ,  being  all  baptized  by  one  Spirit  into 
one  body,  of  which  Christ  is  the  head.  "  Seeing  that  ye  have  put 
ofi"  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  who  is 
renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him." 
"  For  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ,  have  put  on 
Christ.  There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor 
free,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female  ;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ." 
(Col.  iii.  9,  10  ;  Gal.  iii.  27,  28.)  In  the  next  place  :  They  who  are 
baptized  into  Christ,  or  by  the  one  Spirit  into  the  one  body,  of  which 
he  is  the  head  and  they  the  members,  are  baptized  into  his  death,  and 


CHRIST  S    PEOPLE    NOT    OF    THIS    WORLD.  307 

ftlius  die,  or  become  dead  with  him,  even  as  he  is  dead  or  hath  died. 
"  Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ, 
were  baptized  into  his  death  ?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by 
baptism  into  death."     (Rom.  vi.  3,  4.) 

Moreover,  the  Church  of  Christ  are  raised  to  life  in  him  and  live 
with  him,  even  as  he  liveth.  "  For  ye  are  dead,  [or  difs&avSTS,  ye 
have  died,]  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  "  Therefore 
we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death  ;  that,  like  as  Christ 
was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we 
also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life.  For  if  we  have  been  planted 
together  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness 
of  his  resurrection ;  [having  the  same  death  and  resurrection  with 
him  ;]  knowing  this,  that  our  old  man  is  crucified,  with  him,  that  the 
body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth  we  should  not  serve 
sin.  For  he  that  is  dead,  [dieth,]  is  freed  [is  justified,  SsSwaiurai'] 
from  sin." 

Thus  the  Church  of  Christ  are  dead  with  him,  and  alive  with  him, 
so  as  to  be  quite  separated  from  the  world  ;  and  the  world  see  and 
feel  that  it  is  even  so,  and  think  it  strange  that  they  run  not  with 
them  into  the  same  excess  of  riot,  or  same  pursuits,  speaking  evil  of 
them  and  hating  them,  because  they  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as 
Christ  Jesus  is  not  of  the  world. 

But  if  Christ  died  to  sin,  and  lives  to  God,  and  his  people  do  the 
same,  there  can  be  no  good  reason  why  the  world  should  hate  either 
him  or  them,  or  be  at  all  disaffected  with  them  on  that  account.  But 
they  hate  them  as  they  hated  him — without  a  cause,  that  is,  without 
any  just  cause.  The  world  had  a  reason  for  hating  him,  because,  said 
he,  I  testify  of  it  that  the  works  thereof  are  evil.  So  it  is  with  his  peo- 
ple. Could  they  die  to  sin  and  live  to  God,  and  pursue  the  course 
of  this  world  as  other  men  do,  that  is,  live  as  the  world  do,  the  world 
could  not  hate  them.  For  said  Jesus  to  his  brethren  who  did  not 
believe  on  him,  "  The  world  cannot  hate  you  ;  but  me  it  hateth ;" 
and  to  his  disciples,  "  If  ye  were  of  the  World,  the  world  would  love 
his  own  ;  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you 
out  of  the  world,  therefore  the  world  hateth  you."  And  again  :  "  I 
have  given  them  thy  word  ;  and  the  world  hath  hated  them,  because 
they  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world.''''  (Jno.  vii. 
7,  and  XV.  19,  and  xvii.  14.) 

Thus  it  is  evident,  that  the  separation  between  the  world  and  the 
Church  of  Christ,  who  are  baptized  into  his  death,  and  who  also  live 
with  him,  is  effectual  and  real,  and  that  the  baptism  with  which  they 
are  baptized  into  Christ,  is  an  effectual  work,  cutting  them  entirely 
off  from  the  world,  and  also  manifest,  so  that  the  world  perceive  it, 
and  look  upon  them  who  are  thus  baptized,  or  who  take  up  their  cross 
to  follow  Christ,  and  once  become  established  in  his  faith,  as  dead 
men.     For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

The  world  follow  their  former  conversation  which  they  had  of  old, 
walking  after  the  course  of  the  world,  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the 
flesh  and  of  the  mind  ;  but  the  children  of  God,  the  Church  of  Christ, 
enter  in  with  him  into  his  rest,  "  By  a  new  and  living  way,  which  he 
hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  vail,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh." 
"  For  we  who  have  believed,  do  enter  into  rest."     And  again:  "  For 


308  Christ's  people  not  of  this  world. 

he  that  is  entered  into  his  rest,  [the  rest  in  Christ  according  to  God's 
promise  to  his  people,]  he  also  hath  ceased  from  his  own  works,  as 
God  did  from  his."     (Heb.  x.  20,  and  iv.  3,  10.) 

If  then  he  has  ceased  from  his  own  works,  he  does  not  still  practise 
them.  The  children  of  God,  therefore,  have  rejected  the  former 
conversation,  the  manner  of  life  which  this  world  pursue,  and  live  a 
new  life  with  Christ  in  God,  as  he  lived,  and  the  world  see  it  and 
hate  them.  "  But  ye  have  not  so  learned  Christ ;  [to  live  as  the 
world  ;]  if  so  be  that  ye  have  heard  him,  and  have  been  taught  by  him, 
as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus  ;  that  ye  put  oiF,  concerning  the  former  con- 
versation, the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful 
lusts  ;  and  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind  ;  and  that  ye  put  on 
the  new  man,  which  after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and 
true  holiness."  (Eph.  iv.  20-24.)  Thus  as  the  scion,  which  is  to 
be  grafted  into  another  tree  of  a  different  kind,  must  be  cut  entirely 
off  from  its  original  stock,  before  it  can  become  one  with  the  new,  so 
must  the  children  of  Adam,  if  they  will  be  saved  through  Christ,  be 
entirely  cut  off  from  the  first  Adam,  and  become  one  with  Christ,  so 
as  to  be  no  more  of  the  world,  even  as  he  is  not  of  the  world. 

Now,  "  The  children  of  this  world  marry  and  are  given  in  mar- 
riage ;  but  those  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world,  and  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  [and  undeniably  God's  children  are  all 
accounted  worthy,  these  therefore]  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in 
marriage  :  neither  can  they  die  any  more  ;  [for  having  been  once 
dead  in  Adam,  in  whom  all  die,  and  having  died  with  Christ,  they 
have  their  life  securely  hid  with  him  in  God  ;]  for  they  are  equal  unto 
the  angels ;  [having  the  life  of  Christ,  which  is  equal  to  that  of  any 
angel ;]  and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  children  of  the  resur- 
rection."    (Luke  XX.  34,  35,  36.) 

The  sum  of  this  discourse  is,  that  the  world,  or  the  children  of  this 
world,  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage,  but  the  children  of  God  do 
not.  For  the  children  of  this  world  are  set  in  contrast  with  another 
class  or  character  of  people,  Tvho  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  mar- 
riage ;  and  when  their  character  is  fully  developed,  they  are  found 
finally  to  be  the  children  of  Godj  being  the  children  or  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  which  resurrection  is  set  forth  as  the  medium  or  principle  by 
which  they  become  children  of  God,  and  this  can  be  none  else  than 
coming  into  Christ.  For  to  as  many  as  receive  him,  to  them  he  giv- 
eth  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God — He  is  the  resurrection  and 
the  life.  As  Christ  Jesus  therefore  did  not  marry,  as  the  children  of 
this  world  do,  nor  take  any  participation  in  their  peculiar  works  ; 
so  neither  do  his  Church.  And  this  is  the  central  and  radical  point 
in  which  both  he  and  they  are  not  of  this  world.  This  is  the  ground- 
work of  the  separating  line  between  Christ,  including  his  Church,  and 
the  world  ;  in  this  centres  that  cross  of  Christ  which  the  world  hate, 
and  without  which  no  man  can  be  saved  from  sin. 

And  that  this  is  the  radical  point  in  which  Christ  was  dead  to  sin 
and  to  the  world,  and  his  people  dead  with  him,  the  words  of  the  Apos- 
tle are  plain  and  pointed.  "  Wherefore,  if  ye  be  dead  with  Christ 
from  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  why,  as  though  living  in  the  world,  are 
•ye  subject  to  ordinances  .'"'  Why  submit  yourselves  to  those  ordi- 
nances of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to 


Christ's  people  not  of  this  world.  309 

come,  weak  and  beggarly  elements  imposed  on  those  who  live  after 
the  flesh,  and  are  alive  to  the  rudiments  of  the  world  ?  (Col.  ii.  20.) 
The  body  or  substance  is  of  Christ ;  and,  if  ye  be  dead  with  him  from 
the  rudiments  of  the  world,  ye  have  no  need  of  these  carnal  ordi- 
nances ;  for  ye  are  complete  in  him. 

Now  the  rudiments  of  any  thing,  are  the  first  principles  out  of 
which  it  springs,  and  according  to  which  it  is  continually  supported 
or  has  its  subsistence  ;  as  the  first  principles  of  a  language  are  called 
the  rudiments  of  that  language.  Accordingly,  the  rudiments  of  the 
world  are  its  first  principles,  by  which  it  is  continued  through  suc- 
ceeding generations,  and  the  place  of  the  deceased  is  continually  sup- 
plied with  a  multiplied  increase.  These  rudiments  are  found  in  the 
order  and  works  of  generation,  among  those  who  marry  and  are  given 
in  marriage.  These  are  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  on  which  the 
children  of  the  world  live,  and  which  they  pursue,  and  from  which 
Christ  is  dead  and  his  people  with  him.  These  are  the  life  of  the 
world,  which  to  forsake  in  the  faith  of  Christ  and  to  follow  him,  ren- 
ders a  man  dead  and  hateful  as  death  to  this  world ;  so  that  he  is  no 
more  of  this  world,  even  as  Christ  is  not  of  this  world. 

On  this  principle,  a  man  is  dead,  and  yet  living,  even  as  Christ 
lived  ;  "  Because  as  he  is,  so  are  we  in  this  world."  (1  Jno.  iv.  17.) 
"  And  if  Christ  be  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin  ;"  (sin  is 
found  to  have  its  seat  in  its  appropriate  works,  it  is  therefore  devoted 
to  death  with  Christ,  from  all  these  works  and  their  nature,  that  the 
whole  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed  ;)  "  but  the  spirit  is  life  be- 
cause of  righteousness.  But  if  the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus 
from  the  dead  dwell  in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  fi-om  the  dead, 
shall  also  quicken  your  mortal  bodies  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in 
you.  [That  they  may  be  living  temples  for  God  while  they  remain.] 
Therefore,  brethren,  we  are  debtors,  not  to  the  flesh,  to  live  after  the 
flesh.  For  if  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die  :  but  if  ye,  through 
the  Spirit,  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live."  (Rom. 
viii.  10-13.) 

I  am  aware  that  it  will  be  contended,  that  the  only  necessary  dis- 
criminating line  between  Christ  and  the  world,  or  at  least  between  his 
Church  and  the  world,  and  that  line  by  which  they  are  not  of  the 
world,  even  as  he  is  not  of  the  world,  consists  in  being  obedient  to 
commanded  duties,  and  abstaining  from  all  things  unlawful,  or  ex- 
pressly forbidden,  (or  believing  in  Christ  and  having  his  righteous- 
ness imputed  to  them,  and  thus  being  entitled  to  a  reward  in  heaven, 
according  to  some,)  but  all  in  a  perfect  consistency  with  living  in 
the  works  of  the  first  Adam  ;  as  if  Christ  and  Adam  were  completely 
at  one.  Thus  many  profess  to  be  dead  with  Christ  from  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  world,  and  yet  are  as  continually  and  successfully  em- 
ployed as  any  of  the  children  of  the  world,  in  procreating  the  living 
subjects  of  the  world,  by  its  own  rudiments,  and  in  the  fullness  of  its 
spirit ;  for  their  offspring  are  as  corrupt  as  any  others. 

Many  also  profess  to  have  renounced  the  first  Adam,  to  have  put 
him  off,  and  to  have  come  into  Christ,  to  be  baptized  into  his  death, 
and  to  live  his  hidden  life  in  God ;  and  yet  are,  from  time  to  time, 
begetting  and  bringing  forth  Adam's  sons  and  daughters  in  all  his 
fallen  nature,  as  corrupt  as  the  children  of  the  infidel  world,  or  the 


310  Christ's  people  not  of  this  wokld. 

fruit  of  Illegitimate  intercourse.  And  when  they  are  asked  for  a  rea- 
son to  justify  such  works  in  Christians,  they  will  directly  appeal  to  the 
commandment  or  law  originally  given  to  Adam,  notwithstanding  that, 
as  professed  Christians,  they  claim  an  entire  disunion  with  Adam,  his 
family  and  his  law,  with  all  its  consequences,  aud  profess  to  have  put 
off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  and  to  have  put  on  the  new,  even  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  never  incorported  himself  with  the  first  Adam, 
except  by  such  conjunction  as  was  necessary  to  put  him  to  death,  and 
lead  the  people  out  of  his  order  and  nature  to  God,  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life.  O  how  inconsisteHt  are  the  lives  of  professed  Christians! 
They  make  no  radical  or  effectual  distinction  between  Christ  and  Adam 
— no  marked  or  discriminating  line  between  the  flesh  and  the  Spirit — 
none  between  the  living  and  the  dead — none  between  the  Church  of 
Christ  and  the  world. 

But  if  it  be  the  province  of  Christians  to  propagate  their  species  by 
natural  generation,  and  if  they  who  are  dead  with  Christ  and  not  of 
the  world,  may  perform  this,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  they  do  not 
propag-ate  their  own  likeness .''  Or  is  there  any  discriminating  dif- 
ference between  their  children  and  those  of  other  people  ?  Are  they 
any  more  holy,  or  any  easier  to  initiate  into  the  faith  and  life  of 
Christ .?  When  Adam  begat  a  son,  he  was  in  his  own  likeness,  and  a 
lost,  corrupt  creatine,  and  his  posterity  ever  since,  through  successive 
generations,  have  done  the  same  ;  for  by  one  man,  sin  entered  into  ike 
world,  and  death  by  sin  ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  ail  men,  for  that  all 
have  sinned.  How  then  comes  it  to  pass  that  Christians  do  not  propa- 
gate an  offspring  in  their  own  likeness,  or  in  the  likeness  of  Christ, 
saved  in  Christ  their  living  head  ?  For  Adam's  sons  continue  to  be- 
get an  oflfepring  in  their  own,  that  is,  in  his  likeness,  corrupt  and  fallen. 
They  have  no  need  to  be  converted  in  order  to  become  wicked — sin- 
ners like  their  father.  They  are  conceived  in  sin,  and  shapen  ii3 
iniquity  ;  born  to  trouble  as  the  sparks  ly  upward  ;  by  nature,  chil- 
dren of  wi'ath.  Why  then  has  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ  the  same  ins- 
fluence,  at  least  over  his  seed  and  their  posterity,  as  the  spirit  of 
Adam  over  his  ?  How  comes  it  to  pass  that  they  ail  have  to  be  con- 
verted by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  in  the  Gospel,  and  experience  a  re- 
generating work,  before  they  are  like  Christ  their  Father  and  their 
head  ? 

It  is  proved  by  Scripture,  as  above  quoted,  and  by  a  painful  experi- 
ence, that  the  corruption  of  Adam's  fall  has  carried  death  to  his  re- 
motest generations'.  But  it  is  written.  That  where  sin  abounded  graoe 
.did  much  more  abound.  Why  then  cannot  this  superaboimding  graoe 
in  Christ,  eradicate  the  abounding  corruption  of  Adam's  fall  in  the 
children  of  God,  so  that  Christians  may  propagate  a  legitimate  and 
Christian  offspring,  if  it  be  their  province  to  procreate  their  species 
by  ordinary  generation  .''  Shall  this  only  aboundirig  sin,  or  corruptioa 
of  Adam's  fall,  maintaiiii  its  ground  against  the  superabounding  grace 
of  God  in  Christ,  and  balk  the  followers  of  Christ  and  their  offspring, 
struggling  under  its  oppression,  and  held  by  it  all  their  lifetime,  sub- 
ject to  bondage  through  fear  of  death  ?  Can  this  be  all  the  fruit  of 
Christ's  delivering  them,  by  his,  "  through  death,  destroying  him  that 
had  the  power  ofdeathV  It  cannot  be.  Or  can  they  be  dead  witia 
Christj  and  not  of  the  world,  even  as  he  is  not  of  the  world ;  caa  thej 


Christ's  people  not  of  this  world.  311 

be  separated  from  tlie  first  'Adam,  and  liberated  from  the  deadly 
effects  of  the  fall,  who  do  the  same  work  which  the  world  do,  and  suf- 
fer the  same  corrupting  influence  of  the  fall  with  other  people  ?  It 
cannot  be. 

Cease  then  to  contend  that  the  work  of  propagating  the  species  by 
ordinary  generation,  committed  to  the  first  Adam,  is  at  all  the  province 
or  work  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  who  are  dead  with  him,  and  are  not 
of  the  world.  '■'■If  the  root  be  holy,  so  are  the  branches.''^  If  that  work 
could,  by  any  means,  be  grafted  into  Christ,  and  be  made  the  province 
of  his  people,  it  would  be  holy,  and  its  fruit  holy  ;  but  all  these 
attempts  fail ;  so  that  when  introduced  into  the  Church,  it  is  found  to 
be  the  man  of  sin,  as  shown  in  its  place.  The  Church  of  Christ,  the 
branches  of  the  holy  root,  are  brought  forth  by  a  very  different  pro- 
cess, not  by  generation  but  by  regeneration  ;  being  born,  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  hut  of  God.     Again  : 

If  that  separation  from  the  world,  or  that  Spirit  or  standing  by 
which  Christ's  people  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  he  is  not  of  the 
world,  consists  in  any  thing  compatible  with  marrying  and  practising 
the  works  of  natural  generatioli,  then  what  are  those  works  which 
make  that  separation  with  sufficient  clearness  to  mark  it  out  to  the 
men  of  the  world,  and  so  disagreeable  to  them  that  they  hate  Christ 
and  his  disciples  for  its  sake  .''  The  separation  must  evidently  include 
something  which  the  world  highly  disapprove  and  abhor,  or  the  rejec- 
tion and  condemnation  of  that  which  they  pre-eminently  love,  or  both. 
It  must  also  include  that  which  is  the  death  of  the  world,  and  the 
rejection  of  that  which  is  their  life,  and  necessary  to  their  existence 
in  their  own  order ;  otherwise  a  man  might  be  of  Christ  and  of  the 
world  too.  It  must  also  include  that  which  can  make  it  manifest  who 
are  of  the  world,  and  who  are  of  God,  and  belong  to  the  Church  of 
Christ.  Now  no  profession  of  Christianity,  or  possession  either,  con- 
sistent with  marriage  and  ordinary  generation,  can  include  the 
necessary  causes  of  the  separation.  For  it  is  well  enough  known  that 
all  such  possession  of  inward  piety  may  be  made  in  hypocrisy,  where 
correspondent  works  do  not  accompany  the  profession  sufficient  to 
prove  it  genuine. 

Such  profession,  therefore,  as  is  not  accompanied  with  such  corre- 
spondent works,  cannot  carry  conviction  to  the  world,  that  such  a  man 
or  people  are  of  Christ,  and  not  of  the  world,  nor  cause  the  world  to 
hate  them  because  they  are  not  of  them.  And  where  correspondent 
works  attend  any  profession,  compatible  with  living  in  the  state  of 
marriage  and  ordinary  generation,  such  profession,  and  such  works, 
cannot  carry  conviction  to  the  world,  that  such  people  are  not  of  them, 
nor  cause  them  to  hate  them  on  that  account  ;  for  notwithstanding 
they  may  abstain  from  certain  matters  of  less  importance  to  the  pur- 
suits and  enjoyments  of  the  world,  which  yet  pertain  to  their  order,  as 
from  avenging  injuries,  or  from  taking  a  legal  oath,  or  from  shedding 
human  blood ;  yet  while  they  pursue  or  approve  of  generation,  the 
world  will  acknowledge  them,  although  they  may  view  the  world,  for 
a  time,  with  a  degree  of  zeal  and  power  which  burns  hot  against  a 
carnal  nature.  But  this  burning  degree  of  zeal  and  power  will  abate, 
in  time,  with  those  who  live  in  generation,  being  consumed  on  their 
lusts,  and  they  and  the  rest  of  the  world  become  one  again.     Accord- 


312'  Christ's  people  not  op  this  world. 

ingly,  it  is  ever  found  that  none  of  those  clmrclies  who  live  in  genera- 
tion can  retain  their  separation  from  the  world,  even  as  far  as  they 
sometimes  gain  it ;  neither  can  they  keep  a  day  of  power  and  revival 
in  religion  more  than  a  short  time. 

Besides ;  The  men  of  the  world  do  not  hate  any  man  or  people,  nor 
count  them  dead  men,  or  not  of  themselves,  because  they  pursue  a 
profession  of  religion,  and  show  correspondent  works,  provided  that 
profession  and  those  works  be  in  the  approbation  of  the  generation  of 
this  world.  Men  esteem  others  the  more  for  living  up  to  what  they 
profess.  If  a  man  will  practise  what  they  esteem  as  virtue,  if  he  be 
just  in  his  dealings,  rendering  to  all  men  their  due,  if  he  be  upright 
in  his  deportment,  chaste  in  his  outward  conversation,  humane  towards 
mankind,  kind  to  his  family,  generous  to  the  poor,  merciful  to  the 
afflicted,  and  hospitable  to  strangers  ;  and  if  he  show  the  same  good- 
ness in  other  respects,  although  he  should  profess  to  be  a  Christian, 
and  therefore  not  of  the  world,  yet  as  long  as  he  will  support  the 
generation  of  this  world,  and  acknowledge  it  as  being  consistent  with 
the  life  of  a  Christian,  the  world  will  never  hate  him,  nor  count  him 
out  of  their  class  ;  but  will  esteem  him  the  better  for  his  consistent 
deportment. 

That  which  separates  a  man  from  this  world,  so  as  to  make  him  not 
of  the  world,  even  as  Christ  is  not  of  the  world,  and  cause  the  world 
to  hate  him,  cannot  be  his  abstaining  from  idolatry  or  the  worship  of 
false  gods,  from  profaning  the  name  of  the  Lord,  from  murder,  man- 
slaughter, or  otherwise  taking  the  life  of  a  man,  from  theft  or  fraud, 
from  false  witness  or  slander,  from  adultery  or  fornication,  from 
drunkenness  or  debauchery;  for  all  these  things  and  the  like,  the 
world  themselves  disclaim  and  disapprove,  according  to  their  own 
profession,  as  good  citizens  of  the  world  ;  and  those  who  practise 
them  are  more  or  less  esteemed  unworthy  of  countenance.  These, 
therefore,  cannot  be  the  works  of  the  world  to  which  Jesus  alluded 
when  he  said,  "  But  me  it  hateth,  because  I  testify  of  it,  that  the 
works  thereof  are  evil ;"  neither  can  these  be  the  things  which  his 
followers,  by  avoiding,  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  he  is  not  of  the 
world  ;  nor  does  the  world  hate  them  on  that  account. 

But  let  a  man  once  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow 
Christ ;  let  him  maintain  that  Gospel  which  teaches  us  to  deny  all  un- 
godliness and  worldly  lusts,  lawful  or  unlawful ;  (for  many  things  are 
lawful  which  are  not  Christian  ;)  let  him  support  the  testimony  of 
Christ  in  his  own  words.  That  the  children  of  this  world  marry  and  are 
given  in  marriage  ;  but  those  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world  and 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage^ 
and  let  him  live  according  to  that  testimony,  showing  that  he  is  not 
of  the  world,  even  as  Christ  is  not  of  the  world,  and  it  will  soon  be 
seen  what  makes  the  separation — it  will  be  seen  why  the  world  were 
offended  at  Christ  Jesus,  why  they  hated  him,  and  why  they  hate  his 
disciples,  even  as  he  said.  Because  they  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  he 
is  not  of  the  world. 

They  who  take  up  their  cross  and  follow  Christ,  reject  that  which 
is  the  life  of  the  world,  and  are  of  course  dead  men  in  their  view,  as 
well  as  in  reality,  dead  with  Christ  from  the  rudiments  of  the  world, 
and,  as  added  a  little  after.  Ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ 


Christ's  people  not  of  this  world.  313 

in  God.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  world  hate  them,  that  is,  the 
death  and  the  life  which  are  in  them  ;  they  are  dead,  and  no  creature 
ever  yet  loved  its  own  death,  but  hated  it,  and  they  live  a  life  with 
Christ  in  God,  a  life  which  the  world  abhor,  a  life  of  self-denial  and 
the  cross  of  Christ ;  /  am  crucified  with  Christ ;  nevertheless  1  live  ;  yet 
not  /,  hut  Christ  liveth  in  me  ;  a  life  which  speaks  death  to  this  world, 
and  the  rudiments  of  it,  which  the  children  of  this  world  love  more  than 
all  things  besides  ;  for  by  these  things  men  live,  and  in  these  they 
glory.  Well  said  Jesus  :  /  have  given  them  thy  word  ;  and  the  world 
hath  hated  them,  because  they  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the 
world. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  hatred  and  opposition  of  the  world, 
particularly  of  the  Jews,  against  Jesus,  arose  from  his  teaching  a  doc- 
trine which  overturned  and  superseded  their  law,  disannulling  their 
system  of  service,  and  leading  them  in  new  and  unknown  paths.  But 
the  world  hated  him,  because  he  testified  of  it  that  the  works  thereof 
are  evil ;  he  did  not  teach  that  the  law  or  service  was  evil ;  this  there- 
fore could  not  be  the  cause  of  the  world's  hatred.  Besides  ;  The 
disannulling  of  the  Jewish  law  was  not  understood  by  the  disciples, 
much  less  by  the  unbelieving  Jews,  until  after  the  giving  of  the  Spirit ; 
this  therefore  could  be  no  part  of  the  cause  of  their  hating  him  and 
putting  him  to  death.  That  his  doctrine  led  them  in  new  and  unknown 
paths,  is  indeed  true.  The  doctrine  of  self-denial  and  the  cross,  to  eat 
his  flesh  and  to  drink  his  blood,  or  to  live  his  life,  to  cease  from  the 
generation  of  the  world,  or  have  no  part  with  him,  was  to  them  an 
off'ensive  doctrine  :  it  struck  directly  against  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the 
lust  of  the  eyes  and  the  pride  of  life,  the  all  that  is  in  the  world.  (1 
Jno.  ii.  16.) 

The  Jews,  it  has  been  presumed,  were  offended  with  Jesus,  and  hated 
him  ;  because  he  said  that  God  was  his  father.  But  why  should  this 
offend  them  ?  Did  they  not  call  themselves  the  sons  of  God  ?  We 
have,  said  they,  one  Father,  God.  (Jno.  viii.  41.)  And  could  it  be  of- 
fensive to  them  to  hear  their  Messiah  say.  My  Father  worketh  hitherto, 
and  I  work  'i  But  the  truth  is,  they  hated  him  for  another  cause  ;  his 
denying  himself,  and  bearing  his  cross,  as  he  also  taught  them  to  do, 
against  all  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts ;  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the 
lust  of  the  eyes  and  the  pride  of  life,  including  all  covetousness  and 
the  claiming  of  worldly  possessions.  And  their  charge  against  him, 
for  saying  that  God  was  his  Father,  was  only  a  pretext  to  support  their 
quarrel  against  his  holy  and  self-denying  life,  which  was  not  according 
to  this  world. 

In  the  same  manner  they  contended  with  him,  for  breaking  the  sab- 
bath. Not  because  they  cared  for  keeping  the  law  in  truth  ;  for  they 
made  void  the  law  by  their  traditions  ;  neither  because  he  did  break 
the  sabbath,  or  violate  the  law  in  any  case ;  for  he  was  always  able  to 
put  them  to  confusion,  and  to  vindicate  his  own  works  on  the  sabbath, 
by  their  own  law  and  their  own  practice,  and  thus  to  show  that  they 
only  sought  an  occasion  against  him  by  such  accusations,  because  they 
hated  his  doctrine,  and  his  holy,  self-denying  life.  He  did  not  gratify 
the  lust  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  world  ;  he  did  not  marry  and  hold  pri- 
vate possessions.  On  this  account  the  world  hated  him,  because  he 
testified  of  it  that  the  works  thereof  were  evil. 


314  Christ's  people  not  of  this  world. 

Again  :  one  of  their  heayy  ctarges  against  Hm,  to  ensure  Hs  cruci- 
fixion, was,  that  lie  made  himself  a  king,  and  was  therefore  an  ene- 
my to  Caesar  ;  as  if  they  had  been  friends  to  Csesar  :  when  it  is  evi- 
dent that  nothing  would  have  pleased  them  better,  than  that  he 
would  have  taken  the  command  and  established  them  in  the  kingdom 
and  glory  of  this  world,  at  the  expense  of  the  life  of  Caesar  and  all 
his  power.  And  such  was  their  opposition  to  Csesar  and  his  govern- 
ment, that  no  man  was  by  them  counted  a  greater  sinner  than  he  who 
held  the  office  of  a  tax-gatherer,  called  a  publican,  under  Caesar's  gov- 
ernment. But  they  hated  him,  not  because  he  did  any  evil,  but  be- 
cause he  denied  himself ;  as  they  also  hate  his  disciples,  and  say  all 
manner  of  evil  against  them  falsely,  for  his  name's  sake,  whom  they 
follow  in  the  same  self-denial. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself,  except  it 
abide  in  the  vine,  no  more,  said  Jesus,  can  ye,  except  ye  abide  in 
me.  Now  as  true  as  this  similitude  is,  when  applied  to  Christ  as 
the  vine  and  his  people  as  the  branches  ;  so  true  is  it  when  applied  to 
the  world  as  the  vine,  and  the  children  of  the  world  as  the  branches, 
and  it  illustrates  the  subject  as  correctly  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other. 
For  as  no  man  can  bring  forth  the  appropriate  fruits  of  Christ,  or  of 
his  body,  the  Church,  unless  he  abide  in  him  ;  so  neither  can  any 
man  or  woman,  or  both,  bring  forth  the  appropriate  fruits  of  the 
world,  unless  they  are  of  the  world  and  abide  in  it. '  But  the  whole 
world  lieth  in  wickedness  ;  those  therefore  who  are  of  the  world  and 
abide  in  it,  even  those  who  bring  forth  the  fruits,  or  do  the  appropri- 
ate works  of  the  world,  are  lying  in  wickedness,  [sv  tu  irovripu']  in  the 
devil,  and  not  in  Christ.  But  they  that  marry,  or  in  any  relation 
propagate  the  children  of  the  world,  serve  the  world  and  therefore  do 
not  serve  Christ  5  they  bring  forth  the  appropriate  fruit  of  the  world, 
and  are  therefore  of  the  world,  and  abide  in  it.  Thus  it  is  logically 
proved,  by  undeniable  premises  and  correct  conclusion,  that  they  who 
marry,  or  do  the  works  of  natural  generation,  are  of  the  world  and 
not  of  Chi-ist. 

After  taking  this  view  of  the  subject,  the  great  and  last  objection 
will  present  itself,  that,  if  this  is  the  true  Gospel,  and  all  should  be- 
lieve and  obey  it,  as  all  ought  surely  to  obey  the  truth,  the  world 
would  soon  come  to  an  end.  To  obviate  this,  let  it  be  considered,  in 
the  first  place,  that  the  very  work  of  Christ  is  to  bring  the  world  to 
an  end  in  his  people,  as  soon  as  they  become  his.  A  work  unknown 
to  the  Church  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  as  saith  the  Apostle  ; 
"  Now,  all  these  things  happened  unto  them  for  our  example  ;  and 
they  are  written  for  our  admonition,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world 
are  come."  (1  Cor.  x.  11.)  Accordingly,  as  before  shown,  his  peo- 
ple are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  he  is  not  of  the  world. 

Now  let  us  ask,  on  what  principle  can  the  end  of  the  world  be 
effectuated  by  the  abstinence  of  those  who  are  not  of  it .?  The  world  is 
to  be  served  and  continued  through  its  own  subjects,  and  is  sufficient- 
ly organized  for  that  purpose.  But  the  objection  includes  this  also, 
that  the  call  is  to  every  one  to  come  into  the  same  faith,  and  should 
this  be  so,  the  world  must  inevitably  come  to  a  period.  ^  It  is  true, 
the  call  is  to  every  one  wherever  the  Gospel  comes  ;  but  it  is  also  true, 
that  few  are  disposed  to  obey. 


Christ's  people  not  op  this  world.  315 

There  is  a  heavier  objection  in  the  way  than  the  fear  or  the  prospect 
of  the  world's  coming  to  an  end  ;  their  unwillingness  to  deny  worldly 
lusts  is  of  more  weight  with  them,  than  the  prospect  of  the  world's 
being  at  an  end,  or  than  even  the  hope  of  salvation  or  the  fear  of 
damnation.*  Now  the  deciding  question  is  simply  this.  Which  is  the 
most  momentous  work  ;  to  continue  building  up  the  world  in  its  pre- 
sent order,  in  which  salvation  is  not  known,  and  keep  every  individu- 
al to  that  work,  or  to  build  up  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  eternal  life, 
for  all  souls  who  are  willing  to  come  out  of  the  world  and  be  joined 
to  Christ  ?  They  that  prefer  the  latter,  will  confirm  the  wisdom  of 
their  choice  by  making  a  speedy  escape  from  the  course  of  the  world 
and  all  its  fetters,  and  uniting  themselves  to  the  body  of  Christ,  the 
Church.  And  those  that  make  choice  of  the  former,  may  solace 
themselves  in  their  short-lived  and  paltry  inheritance,  the  portion  of 
Esau,  while  we  consider  the  second  answer  to  the  objection,  in  the 
words  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  And  this  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the 
world,  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations  ;  and  then  shall  the  end  come." 
(Matt.  xxiv.  14.)  This  prophecy  was  not  fulfilled  in  the  apostolic 
dispensation  ;  nevertheless  it  will  surely  come  to  pass.  Now  what 
can  they  effect,  who  are  so  deeply  interested  in  keeping  this  world 
from  running  out }  Can  they  rebuke  the  purpose  of  God,  which  is 
to  publish  to  all  nations  that  everlasting  Gospel  of  Christ  which  he 
has  already  introduced  among  men,  to  make  a  finishing  work  of  sal- 
vation in  all  who  will  receive  it }  Can  they  withstand  the  decree  of 
God  saying,  let  the  finishing,  the  everlasting  Gospel  be  published  to 
the  men  who  dwell  on  the  earth,  saying,  "  Fear  God  and  give  glory  to 
him,  for  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come  .?"  Or- can  they  prevent 
the  faith  and  obedience  of  honest  souls  who  seek  a  kingdom  which 
hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God  .''  Can  they  sup- 
port the  world  in  its  present  course  and  order,  when  the  testimony  is 
fulfilled,  and  the  end  is  come,  any  more  than  the  disobedient  in  the 
days  of  Noah  could,  by  their  eating  and  drinking  and  marriages  keep 
the  flood  from  drowning  them  when  it  came  .''  "  For  as  in  the  days 
that  were  before  the  flood,  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  marrying 
and  giving  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noah  entered  into  the  ark, 
and  knew  not  until  the  flood  came  and  took  them  all  away ;  so  shall 
also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be."  (Matt.  xxiv.  3'8,  39.)  They 
will  not  yield  until  the  end  is  come. 

As  God,  in  the  days  of  Noah,  gave  the  people  warning  long  enough 
to  prove  them,  and  give  them  a  fair  opportunity  to  repent,  before  he 
brought  the  flood ;  so,  when  the  everlasting  Gospel  shall  have  been 
preached  to  all  the  world,  for  a  testimony  to  all  nations,  until  the 
time  shall  be  fulfilled  and  all  have  heard,  then  shall  the  end  come  ; 
and  whether  many  or  few  shall  have  believed,  the  world  can  support 
its  cause  no  longer. 

In  every  dispensation,  except  the  Christian,  marriage  was  justifia- 
ble and  consistent ;  for  in  Christ  alone,  the  people  are  called  to  leave 

*  Many  will  probably  affect  to  deny  this,  anticipating  the  vain  hope  of  obtain- 
ing salvation  short  of  denying  themselves  of  those  darling  pleasures  which  cen- 
tre in  the  lust  of  concupiscence.  But  such  a  salvation  was  never  offered  by 
Christ,  and  can  have  no  foundation  in  his  Gospel.  Eds. 


316  Christ's  people  not  of  this  world. 

the  world  and  its  works.  And  the  practice  is  so  common  that  it  is 
hard  to  convince  mankind  that  Christ  is  at  all  distinct  from  Adam. 
Hence  some,  after  all,  will  plead  the  instruction  or  permission  given 
to" Noah;  as  if  Noah  had  been  Christ  and  had  the  pre-eminence,  or 
had  even  been  a  follower  of  Christ,  many  hundreds  of  years  before  he 
opened  the  way;  or,  as  if  Noah  were  the  pattern  and  example  of  be- 
lievers, whose  steps  they  are  to  follow.  Neither  do  all  the  permis- 
sions, commandments  and  regulations,  under  the  law  of  Moses  and 
the  whole  Levitical  priesthood,  although  they  contained  every  com- 
mandment from  the  beginning,  afford  any  support  to  the  faith  or  prac- 
tice of  marrying  and  living  in  generation  after  coming  into  Christ,  in 
whom  there  is  neither  male  nor  female.  "  For  [in  Christ]  there  is 
verily  a  disannulling  of  the  commandment  going  before,  for  the  weak- 
ness and  unprofitableness  thereof.  For  the  law  [called  the  command- 
ment going  before]  made  nothing  perfect,  but  the  bringing  in  of  a 
better  hope  doth  ;  by  the  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God."*  When  the 
priesthood  was  in  the  hands  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  and  of  Aaron,  and 
the  first-born  of  the  high  priest  was  his  heir,  they  all  married  and  be- 
gat children  in  the  flesh.  But  the  priesthood  being  transposed  from 
Aaron  to  Christ,  who  is  made  priest,  not  after  the  order  of  Aaron, 
but  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  who  was  without  father,  without 
mother,  and  without  descent;  so  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  so  are  his 
people,  without  father,  without  mother,  and  without  descent  after  the 
flesh;  these  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage.  For  the  priest- 
hood being  changed,  or  transposed,  there  is  a  transposition  or  change 
made  also  in  the  law.     There  is  one  law  and  one  rule. 

The  thought  is  in  itself  inconsistent  and  preposterous,  that  Chris- 
tians should  count  it  their  province  or  privilege  to  occupy  the  old 
ground  of  generation,  pertaining  to  the  first  Adam,  after  they  are 
called  out  to  be  a  separate  people,  devoted  to  God.  That  any  people 
should  be  redeemed  from  death,  and  initiated  into  life,  and  yet  be  par- 
ticipators in  the  appropriate  works  of  him  in  whom  all  die  ;  or  should 
be  regenerated  from  the  first  Adam,  into  the  second  ;  transplanted 
from  the  world  into  the  Church,  the  body  of  Christ ;  from  the  ruined 
state  of  a  fallen  nature,  into  a  state  of  salvation  by  the  grace  of  God 
in  Christ ;  from  union  and  relation  to  the  men  of  the  world,  who  all 
lie  in  wickedness,  to  a  relation  and  union  with  the  general  assembly 
and  Church  of  the  first-born,  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven;  or 
in  a  word  from  Adam  to  Christ,  and  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  yet  oc- 
cupy the  same  ground  from  which  they  were  transplanted,  and  culti- 
vate the  same  old  polluted  soil  of  fleshly  generation,  is  too  absurd  to 
admit  of  a  supposition  :  these  different  states  are  incompatible  with 
each  other. 

It  is  utterly  unreasonable,  that  they  who  believe  they  were  conceived 
in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniquity,  as  well  as  all  others  who  have  been  thence 

*Heb.  vii.  19.  The  translation  of  this  verse  does  not  appear  to  convey  the 
Apostle's  meaning  so  correctly,  nor  is  it  so  literal  as  the  following :  The  law  per- 
fected  nothing,  but  loas  the  introduction  of  a  better  hope,  by  which  we  approximate 
to  God.  The  true  meaning  seems  to  be,  that  the  law  was  only  a  system  of 
types  and  shadows,  and  therefore  could  bring  nothing  to  perfection,  as  to  the  real 
substance  of  the  work  of  salvation ;  but  it  was  an  introduction  to  that  work, 
which  was  substantially  manifested  in  and  through  Christ.  Eds. 


CHRIST  S    PEOPLE    NOT    OF    THIS    WORLD.  317 

produced,  should  cleave  to  the  former  ground  and  cultivate  the  old  soil 
wherein  they  were  thus  conceived  and  shapen,  after  [they  say]  they 
have  been  called,  with  the  holy  calling  of  the  Gospel,  into  Christ,  to  be 
a  people  devoted  to  God,  to  serve  him  in  the  newness  of  the  Spirit,  and 
no  more  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter.  Can  it  be  that  such  people  have 
any  real  understanding  of  the  character  of  Christ,  the  quickening  Spirit, 
the  Lord  from  heaven  ?  or  of  the  nature  and  work  of  Christ,  in  the  re- 
demption of  souls  ?  Or  can  they  have  any  just  conceptions  of  the  great- 
ness and  reality  of  that  change  which  is  experienced  by  those  who  are 
called  in  Christ  to  put  off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  which  are  so  cor- 
rupt, that  all  his  fruit,  even  the  most  legitimate,  is  conceived  in  sin  and 
shapen  in  iniquity,  according  to  the  deceitful  lusts,  and  to  put  on  the 
new  man,  who  after  God,  [and  not  after  the  fleshly  works  of  the  old 
generation,]  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness  ?  Can  they  be 
the  circumcision  who  worship  God  in  the  Spirit,  and  rejoice  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh,  to  whom  it  is  like  cutting 
the  heart-strings,  and  rending  the  cords  of  life,  to  renounce  the  fleshly 
works  and  fleshly  relation  of  the  first  Adam,  for  the  sake  of  Christ  and 
eternal  life  in  him  ?     Do  they  love  him  more  than  these  ? 

But  some  will  yet  say.  Did  we  not  all  come  forth  into  life  by  natural 
generation  ?  and  without  it,  how  could  there  be  any  people  to  be 
saved  ?  And  what  then  ?  Because  we  are  all  born  into  the  world  by 
natural  generation,  born  of  blood,  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  and  of  the 
will  of  man,  according  to  his  desires  and  propensities,  must  we  on  that 
account,  or  can  we,  remain  on  the  ground,  and  in  the  works  of  natural 
generation,  after  we  are  called  out  to  be  of  the  number  of  the  new-born 
children  of  God  in  Christ,  who  are  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of 
the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God,  and  are  not  of  the  world, 
even  as  Jesus  is  not  of  the  world  ?  Can  any  man  be  in  Christ  and  re- 
main where  he  was  before?  Can  a  man  put  oflfthe  old  man  with  his 
deeds,  and  put  on  the  new,  and  be  a  partaker  of  the  nature,  and  a  prac- 
tiser  of  the  works  which  are  the  very  core  of  the  old  man's  life,  and 
the  foundation  of  his  existence  ?  Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead  ;  and 
let  the  world  propagate  its  members;  but  let  not  God's  people  return 
to  the  beggarly  elements,  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  wherein  some  de- 
sire to  be  in  bondage. 

But  some  will  argue,  that  to  put  off"  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  im- 
plies nothing  more  than  to  put  off" or  renounce,  and  not  practise  nor  ap- 
prove, the  evils  which  have  attached  themselves  to  him,  and  which 
he  had  before  practised,  as  drunkenness,  murder,  theft,  adultery,  forni- 
cation, covetousness,  and  other  unlawful  works  and  lusts.  But  this 
plan,  in  its  utmost  extent,  is  only  to  dress  the  old  man  in  goodly  attire, 
to  sweep  and  garnish  the  house,  and  let  him  live.  These  are  no  part 
of  the  old  man.  They  are  unmanly  things,  as  well  as  unchristian.  Un- 
lawful deeds  were  never  committed  to  him  to  do  ;  neither  was  he  ever 
allowed  to  indulge  in  unlawful  lusts  ;  they  are  none  of  his  appropriate 
works,  even  in  nature,  unless  by  that  appropriation  which  he  himself 
has  made,  by  deviating  from  his  proper  line,  without  any  authority  from 
God.  And  although  these  and  such  like  are  the  works  of  the  flesh, 
they  pertain  to  it  in  its  fallen  condition  only,  in  its  fallen  nature  as  op- 
posed to  the  Spirit.  And  the  flesh  is  not  to  be  redeemed  from  its  loss, 
purified  and  saved,  but  to  be  crucified   with  the  affections  and  lusts 


318  chkist's  people  not  of  this  world. 

■whether  appropriate  or  self-made.  So  also,  the  old  man  is  not  to  be 
renewed  and  redeemed  by  Christ,  hut  to  be  put  off  with  his  deeds, 
whether  appropriate  by  God's  appointment,  or  self-made.  And  Christ 
is  to  be  put  on,  the  new  man  who  is  renewed  in  knowledge,  after  the 
image  of  him  who  created  him  in  every  follower,  in  whom  he  is  formed. 
"  Put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  make  no  provision  for  the 
flesh' to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof,"  [do  not  make  the  provision  of  the 
flesh  towards  its  desires.    Rom.  xiii.  14.] 

Jesus  was  a  partaker  of  a  human  body  and  soul,  as  other  men  are, 
that  he  might  be  the  elder  brother  of  his  redeemed  brethren,  the  Father 
of  his  spiritual  children,  a  fellow-partaker  and  leader  in  their  sufferings 
and  tribulation,  and  thus  be  made  like  them  in  all  things  ;  while  he 
opened  for  them  the  new  and  living  way  through  the  vail,  that  is  to 
say,  his  flesh,  his  own  being  part  of  the  same  which  they  had,  and  by 
the  cross  which  he  taught  them  also  to  bear.  In  that  situation,  he 
used  the  proper  means  of  support  for  the  animal  life  of  the  natural  body  ; 
but  took  no  part  in  the  generation  of  the  world,  nor  made  any  provision 
by  laying  out,  or  submitting  to  any  method  for  the  fulfilling  or  satisfy- 
ing of  the  desires  or  lusts  of  the  flesh  ;  so  it  is  justifiable  and  consistent 
with  Christianity,  to  provide  things  necessary  and  convenient  for  the 
support  of  the  body,  to  make  a  vessel  for  God's  service,  subject  to  the 
Spirit,  which  mortifies  the  deeds  of  the  body,  but  not  to  feed  it  for  the 
indulgence  of  fleshly  lusts  or  the  performance  of  the  first  Adam's  works, 
after  being  called  into  Christ.  We  have  an  altar  whereof  they  have  no 
right  to  partake  who  serve  the  tabernacle.      (Heb.  xiii.  10.) 

Farther  to  illustrate  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  show  that  the 
world  will  hate  and  oppose  the  people  of  Christ,  as  they  also  do  him- 
self, I  will  introduce  the  saying  of  Christ  to  the  Jews  :  "  I  am  come 
in  my  Father's  name,  and  ye  receive  me  not :  if  another  shall  come 
in  his  own  name,  him  ye  will  receive."  (John  v.  43.)  Could  any 
thing  more  strikingly  exhibit  the  enmity  of  the  world  against  God 
and  his  Christ,  than  the  rejection  and  abuse  which  Jesus  received  at 
the  hand  of  the  people  among  whom  he  wrought  so  many  miracles, 
spake  so  many  gracious  words,  did  so  many  kind  offices  and  good 
works,  and  in  all  his  works  revealed  the  Father  so  clearly .''  But, 
/  am  come  in  my  Father'^s  naine^  and  ye  receive  me  not :  if  another  shall 
come  in  his  own  name^  him  ye  will  receive.  Query  :  If  any  man  should 
come  professedly  in  his  own  name,  and  propose  to  be  a  teacher  to 
lead  men  to  life,  not  even  pretending  that  God  had  sent  him,  or  that 
he  had  any  commission  from  God,  would  even  the  world  receive  him  .'' 
I  think  not.  These  words  then  are  figurative  ;  and  the  phrases.  In 
my  Father''s  name.,  and  In  his  oxen  name,  are  to  be  understood  as  con- 
taining more  than  words. 

When  Jesus  spake  of  the  false  prophets  and  teachers,  he  said, 
Many  shall  come  in  my  name,  saying,  /  am  Christ.  Saying,  but  not 
doing  according  to  Christ,  not  walking  in  his  Spirit  or  works.  Now  if 
any  man  will  come  in  the  name  of  Christ,  not  saying,  but  doing  accord- 
ing to  Christ,  walking  in  his  Spirit  and  works,  him  the  multitude  will 
not  receive.  But  if  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  as  almost 
all  do,  not  only  saying,  but  doing  also,  walking  in  his  own  ways  and 
teaching  out  of  his  own  spirit,  him  they  will  receive.  For  when  a 
man  cometh  in  his  own  name,  or  according  to  his  own  spirit,  and  will 


Christ's  people  not  of  this  world.  319 

promise  tlie  people  salvation  in  that  spirit,  lie  cometli  in  the  name 
and  spirit  of  all  the  world,  and  they  will  receive  him  and  close  in 
with  the  plan.  A  Christ,  or  his  ministers,  who  will  preach  salvation 
to  the  flesh,  or  in  the  flesh,  bring  the  most  acceptable  news  to  man- 
kind, and  they  will  receive  them. 

Now  it  is  according  to  the  name,  and  the  spirit,  and  the  practice 
of  this  world,  to  marry  and  live  in  natural  generation,  therefore  it  is 
that  all  those  preachers  of  the  various  denominations  who  approbate 
that  work,  as  being  consistent  with  Christianity,  find  so  hearty  a  re- 
ception among  mankind.  They  bring  them  no  cross  against  their 
own  life.  These  are  they  who  promise  the  people  liberty,  while  they 
themselves  are  the  servants  of  corruption.  But  it  is  not  according  to 
the  spirit  of  this  world  for  a  man  to  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross  and  follow  Christ,  bearing  his  yoke  and  his  reproach,  to  crucify 
the  flesh  with  the  affections  and  lusts,  and  lose  his  life  for  Christ's 
sake  and  the  Gospel's.  Therefore  it  is  that  those  preachers  and 
people  who  follow  Christ,  bearing  his  cross  and  his  reproach,  and 
teach  the  necessity  of  coming  out  from  among  them,  and  not  being  of 
this  world,  even  as  Christ  is  not  of  this  world,  as  the  true  way  to  be 
saved,  find  such  poor  reception  among  professed  Christians  as  well  as 
others.  These  are  they  who  truly  come  in  the  name  of  Christ 
and  of  the  Father,  and  the  people  prove  it  by  their  so  generally  re- 
jecting them. 

The  foregoing  doctrine  bears  hard  against  the  children  of  this 
world,  whose  only  dependence  is  the  flesh,  who  trust  in  it  for  their 
existence  and  continued  succession  here,  and  finished  happiness  in 
heaven.  For,  cut  ofi"  the  flesh  and  the  world  is  ruined ;  its  children 
are  enervated  ;  they  have  no  longer  any  source  of  existence,  no  longer 
any  comfort  or  any  lively  spring  of  action  or  pursuit,  in  this  stage  of 
action  ;  and  their  grand  concentrating  hope  and  prospect  of  perfected 
happiness  (most  of  them)  in  the  next  world,  is  the  resurrection  and 
reanimation  of  the  flesh,  or  natural  body  ;  so  that  their  great  confi- 
fidence  is  in  the  flesh,  without  which  they  have  no  hope. 

"  But  we  are  the  circumcision,  who  worship  God  in  the  Spirit,  and 
rejoice  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  have  no  confidence  in  the  fleshy  (Phil.  iii.  3,) 
neither  for  life  nor  happiness  here,  nor  for  any  part,  much  less  the 
perfecting  of  happiness  in  heaven.  For  notwithstanding  we  had  our 
confidence  in  the  flesh,  when  we  were  of  the  world,  having  renounced 
the  world  and  its  appropriate  works,  to  follow  Christ  and  be  of  him, 
we  have  that  confidence  no  more,  neither  stand  in  relation  to  those 
who  live  according  to  the  flesh.  "  For  the  love  of  Christ  constrain- 
eth  us ;  because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all 
dead  :  And  that  he  died  for  all,  that  they  who  live,  should  not 
henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  died  for  them,  and 
rose  again.  Wherefore,  henceforth  know  we  no  man  after  the  flesh  : 
yea,  though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet  now  henceforth 
know  we  him  no  more.      (2  Cor.  v.  14,  &c.) 

Once  Christ  was  known  as  a  man,  descending  from  the  loins  of 
Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  according  to  the  flesh  ;  but  he  is  now 
known  in  the  Spirit  as  the  Lord  from  heaven  and  Head  of  the  new 
and  spiritual  creation,  the  true  Father  of  the  faithful ;  the  former 
kindred  or  relation,  therefore,  according  to  the  flesh,  with  all  its 


320  Christ's  people  not  of  this  world. 

knowledge,  is  forgotten,  and  men  become  known  and  united  in  the 
Spirit.  "  Therefore,  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  : 
[or,  there  is  a  new  creation,  Greek  :]  old  things  are  passed  away,  be- 
hold, all  things  are  become  new.  And  all  things  are  of  God."  He 
has  new  motives,  new  prospects,  new  works,  a  new  parentage,  and  all 
new  kindred,  in  the  Spirit  and  according  to  Christ,  in  the  room  of  the 
old  in  the  flesh  and  according  to  the  first  Adam.  Thus  having  ob- 
tained new  springs  and  a  new  life,  he  drinks  out  of  a  new  fountain, 
serves  a  new  master,  and  finally  walks  with  him  in  the  new  and 
living  way  which  he  has  consecrated  through  the  vail,  in  which  he 
vailed  himself,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh  ;  that  we  might  hold  a  relation 
to  him  and  follow  him.  For  he  is  dead  with  Christ  from  sin,  from 
the  world  and  its  rudiments,  and  alive  to  God  in  the  Spirit.  His 
brethren,  and  his  sisters,  and  his  mother,  are  the  same  as  Christ's  are, 
those  who  do  the  will  of  his  Father  in  heaven.  He  is  a  subject  of 
the  same  death  which  Christ  died,  lo  sin,  and  of  the  same  life  which 
Christ  lived,  to  God.  He  no  more  looks  to  Adam  as  his  head  or  his 
root,  or  his  lawgiver,  but  to  "  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  [or,  the 
first  leader  and  perfecter]  of  our  faith  ;  who  for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  him,  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God."  Thus  he  is  eventually  an 
overcomer  with  Christ,  and  sits  with  him  on  his  throne,  even  as  ho 
overcame,  and  has  sat  down  with  the  Father  on  his  throne. 

But  all  this  work  of  dying  with  Christ,  of  suff'ering  with  him,  and  of 
losing  the  life  for  Christ's  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  is  considered  by 
some,  and  argued  with  obstinacy,  as  consisting  in  an  inward  work,  re- 
forming indeed,  and  regulating  the  life  and  manners  of  men,  as  well 
as  softening  their  hearts  ;  but  not  cutting  them  off"  from  the  original 
stock  so  perfectly,  but  that  they  may  do  the  appropriate  works  of  the 
first  Adam,  while  they  also  serve  Christ — may  propagate  and  do  the 
other  appropriate  works  of  the  world,  while  they  are  not  of  the  world, 
even  as  Christ  Jesus  is  not  of  the  world. 

But  besides  the  impossibility  of  a  man's  serving  two  masters,  and  the 
impropriety  or  rather  absurdity  of  any  man's  propagating  the  world, 
and  doing  the  appropriate  works  of  the  world  and  of  the  first  Adam, 
the  father  of  the  world,  when  he  himself  is  not  of  the  world,  which  are 
silencing  considerations  with  men  of  discernment ;  it  may  be  asked, 
How  comes  it  to  pass  that  by  the  faith,  or  work  of  Christ,  the  son  is 
divided  against  the  father,  and  the  father  against  the  son,  the  mother 
against  the  daughter,  and  the  daughter  against  the  mother,  the  daugh- 
ter-in-law against  the  mother-in-law,  and  the  mother-in-law  against 
her  daughter-in-law,  and  that  a  man's  foes  are  (emphatically)  those 
of  his  own  house,  or  family  ;  and  how  comes  it  to  pass,  with  an  em- 
phasis, that  the  kindreds  of  the  earth  (or  earthly  kindreds,  relations) 
shall  wail  because  of  him  ;  unless  the  faith  and  work  of  Christ  cut  the 
cords  of  the  kindred  of  the  earth,  and  take  the  life  of  the  fleshly  or 
Adamic  relation. 

According  to  the  promise  of  God  to  his  Israel,  even  to  Christ, 
so  it  is  coming  to  pass.  "  Thou  art  my  battle-axe  and  my  wea- 
pons of  war  ;  for  with  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces  the  nations,  and 
with  thee  will  I  destroy  kingdoms  ;  and  with  thee  will  I  break  in 
pieces  the  horse  and  his  rider  ;  and  with  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces 


Christ's  people  not  of  this  world.  821 

tlie  chariot  and  his  rider  ;  with  thee  also  will  I  break  in  pieces  man 
and  woman  ;  and  with  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces  old  and  young  ;  and 
with  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces  the  young  man  and  the  maid ;  I  will 
also  break  in  pieces  with  thee  the  shepherd  and  his  flock  ;  and  with 
thee  will  I  break  in  pieces  the  husbandman  and  his  yoke  of  oxen  ; 
and  with  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces  captains  and  rulers,"  (Jer.  li. 
20-23,)  even  all  the  connections  and  the  pursuits  of  the  whole  order 
of  the  flesh  and  the  world.     Again  : 

The  promise  of  God,  for  the  work  of  Christ,  is  as  follows  :  "  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  I  will  seek  to  destroy  all  the 
nations  that  come  against  Jerusalem.  And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house 
of  David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace 
and  supplications  ;  and  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have 
pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him,  as  one  mourneth  for  his  only 
son,  and  shall  be  in  bitterness  for  him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for 
his  first-born.  In  that  day  shall  there  be  a  great  mourning  in  Jeru- 
salem, as  the  mourning  of  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megiddon. 
And  the  land  shall  mourn,  every  family  apart ;  the  family  of  the  house 
of  David  apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of 
Nathan  apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of  Levi 
apart,  and  their  wives  apart ;  the  family  of  Shimei  apart,  and  their 
wives  apart ;  all  the  families  that  remain,  every  family  apart,  and 
their  wives  apart."  (Zee.  xii.  9-14.)  Men  and  wives  are  in  the 
course  of  this  world  ;  for  its  children  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage  ; 
but  the  work  of  Christ  will  rend  them  all  asunder  for  the  destruction 
of  the  flesh,  that  the  Spirit  may  be  saved — that  they  may  be  as  an- 
gels of  God  in  heaven,  all  joined  to  the  Lord  in  one  Spirit. 

But  it  is  argued  that  this  work  of  dying  with  Christ  was  all  done  in 
him,  that  is,  by  him  in  our  room,  when  he  sufi"ered  once  in  the  end  of 
the  world ;  and  that  the  actual  losing  of  the  life  for  Christ's  sake  and 
the  Gospel's,  is  limited  to  those  who  are  called  to  suffer  martyrdom, 
or  give  up  the  natural  life  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  But  if  this  be  true, 
none  besides  those  martyrs  can  be  saved  :  for  whosoever  will  save  his 
life  shall  lose  it ;  and  in  all  the  revelations  of  God  to  men,  where  do 
we  read  of  any  who  ever  arrived  to  finished  salvation,  except  those 
who  arrived  through  great  tribulation,  suffering  and  death ;  in  a  word, 
any  but  martyrs  who  loved  not  their  lives  unto  the  death  ? 

No  affliction  is  so  great ;  no  death  strikes  so  deep  and  deadly  a 
blow  against  human  nature,  its  hope,  its  life  and  prospects,  in  its 
fallen  state,  as  the  piercing  call  of  God  to  come  out  of  the  world  into 
Christ ;  this  death  is  to  both  the  male  and  female  ;  for  both  are  par- 
takers of  the  ruin  which  is  in  the  flesh  by  sin.  The  nature  of  the 
serpent,  which  is  the  source  of  all  iniquity,  has  its  life  and  subsistence 
in  the  works  of  natural  generation,  and  lives  under  cover  of  marriage 
first  instituted  by  God,  or  that  appointment  according  to  which  a  man 
was  to  forsake  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  be  joined  to  his  wife, 
and  they  twain  were  to  be  one  flesh.  This  was  the  original  order  of 
the  first  creation,  and  was  in  its  own  time  and  place  correct  and  in- 
nocent, until  the  serpent  beguiled  the  woman  ;  she  then  became  obe- 
dient to  him,  and  partook  of  his  nature,  which  she  has  retained  ever 
since,  with  much  obsequiousness  ;  and  the  woman,  ingeniously  occu- 
pying the  same  bait,  enticed  the  man,  and  decoyed  him  into  the  same 
22 


322  Christ's  people  not  of  this  world. 

transgression  ;  to  whom  he  has  yielded  himself  a  servant,  and  to  the 
serpent  through  her,  ever  since,  to  the  production  of  all  the  real  evils 
which  are  extant,  or  ever  have  been  on  the  earth. 

For  that  original  order  appointed  and  fixed  by  God,  wherein  the 
blessing  of  God  would  have  been  found  in  peace,  had  it  been  kept 
according  to  its  original  design,  that  God  might  seek  a  godly  seed, 
(Mai.  ii.  15;)  when  it  became  subverted  over  to  the  devil,  it  be- 
came the  fruitful  ivomb  of  the  contrary  evils,  and  the  earth  was  filled 
with  violence.  (Gen.  vi.  11.)  According  to  this  view,  Solomon,  not- 
withstanding he  lived  in  a  dark  day,  when  the  light  of  the  Gospel  had 
never  appeared,  and  therefore  could  not  find  out  all  the  truth,  as  he 
confessed,  when  he  applied  his  heart  to  know,  and  to  search,  and  to 
seek  out  wisdom,  and  the  reason  of  things,  and  to  knoiu  the  wickedness  of 
folly,  even  the  foolishness  and  madness,  exclaimed,  "  And  I  find  more 
bitter  than  death  the  woman  whose  heart  is  as  snares  and  nets,  and 
her  hands  as  bands,"  (Eccl.  vii.  26  ;)  thus  esteeming  the  woman 
as  the  ground-work,  or  productive  soil  of  all  the  evils,  the  folly  and 
wickedness  under  the  sun.  According  to  what  was  seen  and  written 
before  :  "  That  the  sons  of  God  saw  the  daughters  of  men  that  they 
were  fair  ;  and  they  took  them  wives  of  all  whom  they  chose.  And 
God  said,  My  Spirit  shall  not  a  Vays  strive  with  man,  for  that  he  also 
is  flesh.  And  God  saw  that  the  vnckedness  of  man  was  great  in  the 
earth,  and  that  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was 
only  evil  continually."  (Gen.  vi.  2,  3,  5.)  This  was  the  fruit  of  their 
being  one  flesh,  after  the  first  order  of  creation  became  subverted  by 
the  serpent ;  and  so  it  remained,  not  only  until  the  days  of  Solomon, 
but  ever  since. 

I  would  not  be  understood  by  the  strong  language  here  used,  that 
the  woman  is  alone  in  the  transgression  ;  the  man  is  as  really  guilty 
as  the  woman.  But  as  the  woman  was  first  deceived  and  first  in  the 
transgression,  she  appeared  foremost  in  the  production  of  evil  and  in 
the  affliction  to  be  felt  in  the  days  of  visitation.  "  Woe  to  them  that 
are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck  in  those  days."  (Mark 
xiii.  17.)  Why  not  as  directly  to  them  that  beget .?  For  the  day  of 
visitation  comes  with  death  to  the  fallen  nature  of  the  human  family ; 
and  this  fallen  nature  is  the  life  of  the  lost  world. 

This  statement  is  not  intended  to  cast  any  disparagement  on  the 
woman  in  her  proper  order,  but,  if  possible,  to  bring  her  to  sober  re- 
flection, and  convict  her  judgment  and  conscience  of  her  lost  estate, 
and  to  let  her  know  that  her  art  of  pleasing,  as  the  idolizing  world 
delicately  term  it,  however  noble  and  amiable  the  faculty  in  its  proper 
use,  is  subverted  into  the  serpentine  skill  of  beguiling  and  decoying, 
being  abundantly  used  to  that  efiect ;  which,  if  not  crucified  by  the 
cross  of  Christ,  will  eventuate  in  her  destruction.  "  I  find  [says 
Solomon]  more  bitter  than  death  the  ivoman  whose  heart  is  as  snares 
and  nets." 

It  may  be  objected,  as  it  already  has  been,  that  the  woman  here  ex- 
hibited or  characterized  is  not  the  whole  sex  in  contradistinction  from 
the  man,  but  the  dissipated  or  lecherous  wom&n  of  exceptionable  con- 
duct. This  objection  may  arise  from  two  causes.  First :  The  unwil- 
lingness of  the  man,  as  well  as  the  woman,  to  be  convicted  of  the 
egregious  ruin  which  has  overtaken  the  woman  by  her  obedience  to 


Christ's  people  not  op  this  world.  323 

tte  serpent,  and  wHcli  is  by  her  dispersed  amongst  her  admirers ;  and 
secondly,  anunacquaintance  with  the  construction  and  force  of  language, 
I  find  more  bitter  than  death  the  woman  whose  heart  is  as  snares,  import- 
ing the  same  as  if  it  read, /o?-  her  heart  is  as  snares  and  nets.  Surely 
the  man,  lost  as  he  is,  will  not  agree  that  the  woman  of  an  exception- 
able character  is  the  only  one  who  can  environ  him  with  her  snares 
and  nets.  But  it  is  the  appropriate  power  of  the  woman,  in  her  fallen 
state,  to  allure  by  the  flesh,  in  the  nature  of  the  serpent :  and  Solomon 
was  led  astray,  no  doubt,  by  the  most  worthy  in  his  knowledge. 

The  Hebrew  text  is  correctly  translated  thus  :  "  I  find  more  bitter 
than  death  the  woman,  [or,  as  the  seventy  have  translated  it:  I  find 
her  out ;  and  I  say  that  there  is  somewhat  more  bitter  than  death  with 
the  woman]  who  is  as  snares,  and  her  heart  as  nets,  and  her  hands  as 
bands."  No  doubt,  according  to  the  words  which  follow,  "  Whoso 
pleaseth  God  shall  escape  from  her;  but  the  sinner  shall  be  taken  by 
her."  But  Solomon,  who  then  knew  not  fully  the  seat  of  depravity, 
(but  the  Spirit  knew,)  might  have  cherished  the  idea  that  the  evil  lay 
in  the  exceptionable  conduct  of  nearly  all  women,  and  that  if  the  good 
woman  could  be  found,  it  might  be  remedied.  But  unhappily  he  never 
could  find  her;  and  no  wonder  ;  for  the  earth  had  not  yet  been  honour- 
ed with  her  person,  nor  the  Church  been  blessed  with  her  Spirit.  The 
GOOD  woman  is  she  that  has  forsaken  and  crucified  the  flesh,  and  has 
borne  her  cross  after  Christ  Jesus,  her  Lord :  the  good  woman  could 
not  be  found  before  the  good  man.  The  flesh  must  be  crucified  ;  for 
it  is  of  the  world,  and-not  of  God  ;  and  its  fruits  have  always  been  in 
iniquity  and  in  sin ;  as  says  the  Psalmist :  "  Behold,  I  was  shapen  in 
iniquity ;  and  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me,"  as  our  common 
translation  reads. 

But  no  English  language  occurs  to  me  calculated  to  express  the  force 
of  the  original,  without  lengthening  the  description.  The  Psalmist, 
pressed  with  the  sense  and  weight  of  his  corruption  and  depravity, 
which  he  brought  with  him  by  descent  from  the  rock  whence  he  was 
hewn,  and  the  hole  of  the  pit  whence  he  was  digged,  and  labouring  to 
make  a  clear  communication  of  his  impressions,  used  the  most  energetic 
expressions,  it  is  probable,  his  native  language  could  afi"ord  :  "  I  was 
conceived*  in  the  act  of  iniquity,  and  in  the  act  of  sin  my  mother  in- 
closed me,  in  the  lust  of  coition;"  evidently  making  the  whole  work 
and  production  the  fruit  of  sin,  and  that  neither  the  fellowship  nor 
nature  of  God  was  therein — that  God  was  not  known  therein. 

*  "n'7'?in.  For  what  reason  the  English  translators  have  rendered  this  word 
by,  /  was  shapen,  I  know  not,  unless,  being  unable  to  find  any  phrase  by  which 
to  render  the  following,  ■>  jnon"' ,  which  they  have  rendered  by  conceived :  they  sub- 
stituted the  word  shapen  for  the  first,  that  a  gradation,  or  increase  in  strength  of 
expression,  somewhat  answerable  to  the  original,  might  appear  in  the  description  ; 
the  last  phrase  being  the  strongest,  and  most  expressive,  of  the  root  and  nature 
of  human  depravity.  The  Septuagint,  though  only  a  translation  from  the  Hebrew 
text,  and  therefore  cannot  demand  implicit  reliance,  yet  as  its  authors  were  He- 
brews, and  at  least  ought  to  have  understood  their  own  language  correctly,  ren- 
ders the  first  of  the  above  phrases  by  a  Greek  word,  [rfuvsX^m^Tjv]  which  pro- 
perly and  naturally  reads,  I  was  conceived;  and  the  latter  by  ^ixi(f(fri(fs^  a  remark- 
able word,  which,  by  a  secondary  meaning,  signifies  to  conceive,  but  primarily, 
according  to  derivation,  is  indicative  of  pertness,  or  wantonness. 


324  Christ's  people  not  of  this  world. 

There  is  abundant  testimony  in  history  to  prove,  by  that  authority, 
that  it  was  the  faith  of  the  early  Christians,  after  the  days  of  the  apos- 
tles, to  renounce  the  generation  of  the  first  Adam,  as  being  included 
in  the  cross  of  Christ,  which  every  Christian  is  required  to  bear.  And 
although  all  did  not  bear  a  full  cross  in  that  point,  they  who  did  were 
esteemed  the  best  Christians.  At  this  day,  all  those  faithful  and  zea- 
lous disciples  of  Christ  are  counted  heretics  ;  and  as  such  their  mangled 
characters  have  been  handed  down  to  us,  by  historians  who  were  ene- 
mies to  the  cross  of  Christ. 

But  enough  is  said  to  prove  the  point  in  hand;  neither  have  weanygood 
evidence  that  the  notiorf  of  Christians  marrying,  and  doing  the  works  of 
the  first  Adam,  was  ever  patronized  with  full  fellowship  in  any  professed 
Christian  church  until  in  modern  times  :  it  is  entirely  an  innovation  ; 
the  work  of  men,  who  are  lovers  of  carnal  pleasures,  more  than  lovers 
of  God,  or  real  friends  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  I  say,  the  mangled 
characters  of  the  most  zealous  and  faithful  disciples  who  have  denied 
themselves  for  the  sake  of  Chi-ist  and  his  Gospel,  have  been  handed 
down  to  us  under  the  name  of  heretics  ;  and  such  are  all  those  esteem- 
ed by  the  professing  part  of  the  world,  who  correctly  adhere  to  the 
doctrine  and  example  of  Christ  in  obedience.  It  is  esteemed  the  worst 
kind  of  heresy,  the  worst  kind  of  apostacy  from  Christ,  to  renounce 
the  world,  or  the  first  Adam,  the  father  of  the  world,  and  put  all  con- 
fidence and  all  dependence  in  Christ,  rejoicing  in  Christ  Jesus,  and 
having  no  confidence  in  the  flesh. 

So  that  after  all  the  mighty  outcry  of  heresy,  delusion  and  presump- 
tion against  the  believers  in  Christ's  second  appearing,  our  faith  is 
not  so  different  from  that  of  other  people,  as  many  represent  it,  or  as 
prejudice  and  opposition  say.  Do  we  believe  that  the  old  generation 
is  not  the  work  of  Christ .''  So  do  they.  Do  we  believe  that  his  real 
followers  do  not  practise  it  ?  So  do  they  ;  as  many  as  have  kept  a 
direct  line  of  faith  from  the  primitive  Church.  Do  we  believe  that 
God's  purpose  is  to  put  a  period  to  the  world  and  the  old  generation  .'' 
So  do  they.  Do  we  believe  that  God  will  put  an  end  to  the  world  by 
fire,  that  the  earth  and  the  works  thereof  shall  be  burnt  up,  and  that 
the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat  ?  So  do  they  :  and  so  in 
many  other  points. 

The  erroneous  notion  among  professors,  that  prophetic  language 
can  be  understood  by  them,  before  it  is  explained  by  the  accomplish- 
ment, is  productive  of  many  more.  By  that  they  are  exposed  to  take 
metaphorical  and  symbolical  language  in  a  literal  acceptation.  The 
fire  of  God  by  which  the  earth  is  to  be  consumed,  is  preposterously 
maintained  to  be  elementary  fire,  notwithstanding  so  many  Scriptures 
speak  differently.  But  what  that  fire  is,  the  Gospel,  or  the  Spirit  of 
God  in  the  Gospel,  is  the  best  expositor,  and  shows  those  who  keep 
the  Gospel,  that  it  is  God  himself,  who  is  a  consuming  fire  ;  or  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the  fire  in  Zion  ;  or  Christ,  who  is  like  a  refiner's 
fire.  By  this  fire,  the  earth  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be 
burnt,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat ;  "  And  the  world 
passeth  away,  and  the  lust  thereof ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  God 
abideth  for  ever." 

It  has  been  before  shown,  and  every  where  known,  that  the  lust  of 
the  world,  or  the  works  of  the  generation  of  the  world,  are  the  elements 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  SECOND.  325 

of  the  world.  "Nevertheless,  we,  according  to  Ms  promise,  look  for 
new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness  ;"  in 
the  earth,  as  well  as  in  the  heavens,  after  the  great  bnrning  has  come 
to  pass,  and  the  earth  and  the  heavens  have  passed  away  with  a  great 
noise.  (1  John  ii.  17  ;  2  Pet.  iii.  10,  &c.)  It  is  also  a  question  with 
some,  and  with  many  a  matter  of  obstinate  unbelief,  whether  the  times 
and  seasons  are  come,  in  which  the  old  heavens  and  earth  shall  pass 
away  by  the  fire  of  God.  The  mistaken  notion  that  the  prophecies 
can  be  understood  before  the  day  of  their  accomplishment,  or  without 
the  gift  of  the  same  Spirit  who  gave  them  at  first,  and  also  the  notion 
that  they  are  to  be  literally  fulfilled,  operate  strongly  in  support  of 
their  not  believing  that  the  times  are  come,  while  they  do  not  see 
those  literal  accomplishments,  not  considering  that  the  work  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  is  spiritual,  and  that  "none  of  the  wicked  shall 
understand  ;  but  the  wise  shall  understand." 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  SECOND. 

Thus  we  have  performed  what  was  proposed,  to  show  what  are  the  . 
distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  Church,  or  body,  of  Christ,  by 
which  they  can  be  known  and  distinguished  from  all  other  people. 
They  are  found  to  be  a  people  in  the  possession  of  that  Gospel  which 
gives  them  power  over  all  sin,  so  that  in  the  progress  of  the  work  they 
cease  to  commit  sin,  or  to  do  any  iniquity — a  people  living  in  the 
exercise  of  such  love  and  union  as  no  other  people  can  imitate,  being 
the  product  of  no  other  cau.se  ;  no  other  spirit  than  that  of  which  they 
are  possessed — the  Spirit  of  God — the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond 
of  peace — a  people  who  are  not  of  this  world,  and  therefore  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  as  the  children  of  this  world  do,  but 
live  as  the  angels  of  God,  who  are  devoted  to  the  work  and  service  of 
God  in  the  Spirit,  and  serve  not  the  flesh.  Therefore,  brethren,  we  are 
debtors,  not  to  the  flesh,  to  live  after  the  flesh.  For  if  ye  live  after  the 
flesh,  ye  shall  die  ;  but  if  ye  through  the  Spirit  do  mortify  the  deeds  of 
the  body,  ye  shall  live. 

It  may  appear  to  some  a  very  improbable  thing,  or  rather  imprac- 
ticable, for  a  society  of  people  to  subsist  on  the  earth  from  year  to 
year,  and  from  age  to  age,  in  the  practical  rejection  of  the  physical 
order  of  procreation.  But  God  has  begun  the  work,  and  he  will  carry 
it  on.  It  is  not  the  work  of  man,  or  it  could  not  stand  ;  for,  said  Jesus, 
"  Every  plant  which  my  heavenly  Father  hath  not  planted,  shall  be 
plucked  up  from  the  root."  It  has  been  shown  that  the  flesh  is  not 
the  source  of  confidence  in  the  people  of  God,  but  the  Spirit.  That 
the  flesh  is  the  source  of  divisions,  of  wars  and  contentions  ;  but  that 
the  Church  and  people  of  God  are  united  in  one  Spirit.  "Jerusalem 
is  builded  as  a  city  that  is  compact  together."  The  Church  of  God, 
the  new  Jerusalem,  is  built  in  a  new  order  of  things,  after  the  Spirit, 


326  CONCLUSION  OP  PART  SECOND. 

in  Christ,  "  of  wliom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named." 
So  said  John  in  the  book  of  Revelations  :  "  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven 
and  a  new  earth  ;  for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed 
away;  and  there  was  no  more  sea."  The  material  heaven  and  earth 
could  not  subsist  in  their  present  order,  without  the  water  of  the  sea, 
to  supply  both  the  animal  and  the  vegetable  creation.  But  the 
language  is  prophetic  and  symbolical.  The  sea  is  the  source  and 
treasure  of  many  waters  on  the  earth  ;  which  are  used  in  this  same 
book  of  the  Revelations,  as  a  symbol  of  peoples,  and  multitudes,  and 
nations,  and  tongues  ;  a  divided  and  immense  multitude,  over  whom 
the  great  whore,  THE  MYSTERY,  BABYLON,  THE  MOTHER 
OF  HARLOTS  AND  ABOMINATIONS  OF  THE  EARTH 
presides,  with  noise,  tumults  and  divisions,  like  the  roaring  waves  and 
commotions  of  the  sea.  But  none  of  these  things  are  in  the  Church 
of  Christ ;  in  whom  there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  neither  bond  nor  free, 
neither  male  nor  female ;  neither  confusion,  nor  division,  nor  tumult; 
for  in  that  Church  God  has  his  dwelling.  "  And  I  John  saw  the  holy 
city,  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  prepared 
as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out 
of  heaven,  saying.  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he 
will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and  God  himself 
shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God.  And  God  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  their  eyes  ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither 
sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain  ;  for  the 
former  things  are  passed  away."  (Rev.  xxi.  2,  3,  4.) 


PART     III. 


OF  THE  RESURRECTION  AND   JUDGMENT. 


CHAPTER    L 

OF  THE  RESURRECTION  ;  MORE  PARTICULARLY  AS  IT  RELATES  TO 
THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

The  belief  of  the  resurrection  is  acknowledged  by  all  wto  profess 
Christianity,  as  an  inseparable  article  in  the  profession  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  "  For  if  the  dead  rise  not,  then  is  Christ  not  raised  ;  and 
if  Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is  vain;  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins." 
(1  Cor.  XV.  16,  17.) 

The  Gospel  of  Christ  has  a  special  relation  to  a  future  state  of 
existence,  as  the  time  and  place  of  the  most  glorious  fulfillment  of  its 
most  precious  promises.  And  that  future  state  of  happiness  is  unat- 
tainable without  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ;  because  death,  without 
restoration,  is  the  issue  with  all  in  the  first  order  and  state  of  things, 
since  the  fall.  For  to  this  day,  "  in  Adam  all  die,"  according  to  the 
threatening :  "  For  in  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely 
die."  (Gen.  ii.  17.)  And  again:  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt 
thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  to  the  ground  ;  for  out  of  it  wast  thou 
taken  ;  for  dust  thou  art  and  to  dust  thou  shalt  return."  (iii.  19.) 
The  only  method,  therefore,  of  restoration  to  life,  and  the  only  true 
foundation  of  hope  for  a  future  state  of  happiness,  are  to  be  found  in 
Christ,  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life,  and  who  says  to  his  fol- 
lowers, Because  I  live  ye  shall  live  also.  The  certainty  of  the  resur- 
rection therefore,  is  not  a  matter  of  dispute,  being  granted  by  all. 

The  inquiry  relates  rather  to  such  questions  as  these :  What  is  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead  .?  How  is  it  effected  ?  What  is  the  state 
of  those  who  have  attained  to  the  resurrection  from  the  dead  .?  Or  in 
the  language  of  Scripture  :  "  How  are  the  dead  raised  ?  and  with  what 
body  do  they  come  .?"  But  the  whole  of  the  differences  on  this  sub- 
ject will  naturally  be  presented  to  view  for  investigation  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  simple  inquiry  :  Is  it  necessary  to  the  accomplishment 
of  the  resurrection,  taught  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  that  the 
material  body,  which  men  inhabit  during  their  natural  or  physical 
life,  be  raised  again,  restored  to  life,  and  confirmed  in  eternal  life  ;  or 
can  that  resurrection  be  accomplished  in  the  spirit,  without  the  re- 
uniting of  the  spirit  with  the  natural  body  ? 


328  OF    THE    EESURRECTrON. 

In  treating  this  subject,  my  purpose  shall  be,  in  the  first  place — To 
collect  and  examine  the  evidences  alleged  in  favour  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  same  body.  And  secondly — To  consider  some  passages  of 
Scripture,  which  cannot  be  understood  with  good  sense  if  considered 
as  speaking  of  the  resurrection  of  the  same  material  body.  And 
thirdly — To  show  that  the  true  resurrection  promised  in  Christ,  is  the 
passing  from  the  first  Adam  into  the  second. 

I  am  not  unaware,  that  to  satisfy  the  mind  and  conscience  of  natural 
men,  and  to  stop  the  mouth  of  gainsayers,  on  this  subject,  will  be  a 
more  difficult  and  arduous  undertaking,  than  on  almost  any  other 
particular  pertaining  to  the  Gosj^el.  And  no  marvel,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  the  Gospel  is  a  spiritual  topic,  pertaining  to  spiritual 
things  and  a  spiritual  work,  and  that  the  resurrection  is  the  very  sub- 
stance and  marrow  of  the  Gospel,  and  as  it  were  the  basis  on  which 
it  stands  or  with  which  it  falls — no  resurrection,  no  Gospel.  It  is 
also  that  rudiment,  or  first  principle,  according  to  which  the  whole 
work  of  the  Gospel  is  carried  on,  and  the  whole  building  framed  to- 
gether, and  finally  accomplished  in  the  Spirit  of  Christ — He  is  the 
resurrection.  It  is  therefore  not  strange,  that  it  is  out  of  the  reach 
and  comprehension  of  natural  men.  "  For  the  natural  man  receiveth 
not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  they  are  foolishness  to  him ; 
neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned." 
(1  Cor.  ii.  14.)  Nevertheless,  candid  inquirers  are  not  incapable  of 
receiving  such  evidence,  adapted  to  their  intellectual  faculties,  as  will 
satisfactorily  evince,  what  the  true  resurrection  of  the  saints  is,  and 
how  to  attain  it. 

Now,  according  to  the  proposed  plan,  the  first  business  is,  to  collect 
and  examine  the  evidences  alleged  in  favour  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
same  body.  And  as  the  resurrection  is  entirely  dependent  on  revela- 
tion, for  its  confirmation  and  elucidation,  our  examination  shall  have 
immediate  respect  to  the  Scripture  testimony.  And  as  life  and  im- 
mortality were  brought  to  light  by  the  Gospel,  and  the  resurrection 
was  not  known  with  any  certainty  to  the  Gentiles,  and  but  imperfectly 
known  or  understood  by  the  Jews,  being  first  taught  explicitly  and 
fully  by  Jesus  Christ  and  then  by  his  apostles,  the  p^'incipal  attention 
shall  be  paid  to  the  apostolic  writings,  with  such  of  the  Jewish  as  Jesus 
and  his  apostles  have  quoted. 

It  is  peculiarly  necessary,  in  treating  this  subject,  to  consider  the 
great  darkness  and  ignorance  of  the  Jews  respecting  the  resurrec- 
tion; for  although  it  was  believed  and  looked  for  by  some,  yet  such 
was  the  darkness  on  this  subject,  and  particularly  respecting  the  re- 
surrection of  Jesus  Christ,  that  it  could  be  said  of  his  disciples  and 
followers,  "  For  as  yet  they  knew  not  the  Scriptures  that  he  must  rise 
again  from  the  dead."  Being  natural  and  accustomed  to  a  carnal 
dispensation,  they  understood  natural  and  carnal  things,  but  were 
ignorant  of  the  spiritual.  This  state  of  things  made  it  necessary  to 
use  expressions  and  representations  to  the  Jews,  in  the  introduction 
of  Christianity,  very  different  from  those  used  by  Christians  who  were 
instructed  in  the  nature  of  the  spiritual  work  and  kingdom  of  God. 
Accordingly  the  apostles  used  very  different  language,  different  re- 
presentations, and  on  the  whole,  a  very  different  statement  of  facts  in 
their  first  public  ministrations,  proving  the  certainty  of  the  resurree- 


OP    THE    RESURRECTION.  329 

tion  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  what  they  afterwards  used  in  the  progress 
of  Christianity,  showing  what  that  resurrection  is  in  its  nature  and 
effects.  And  it  ought  by  all  means  to  he  considered,  that  the  state- 
ment and  proof  of  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
consequently  of  his  people,  are  very  different  matters  from  the  illus- 
tration of  its  nature,  showing  how  the  dead  are  raised  and  with  what 
body  they  come.  By  not  attending  to  this  distinction,  the  mind  is 
liable  to  be  led  quite  astray,  and  to  substitute  the  natural  in  the  room 
of  the  spiritual,  and  so  err  from  the  truth  not  knowing  the  Scriptures, 
neither  the  power  of  God. 

Before  we  enter  fully  into  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  it  will  be 
expedient  to  premise,  that  the  term  body  admits,  and  necessarily 
requires,  different  acceptations,  in  the  holy  Scriptures  as  well  as  in 
other  writings  and  in  the  common  use  of  language,  to  the  present 
day.  Sometimes  it  means  the  animal  body  in  distinction  from  the 
spirit — sometimes,  an  individual  person  including  body  and  spirit — 
at  other  times,  a  number  of  persons  collectively,  as  when  we  speak 
of  a  body,  or  corps  of  soldiers,  and  also  the  Church,  or  body  of 
Christ,  and  the  like.  Respect  will  be  had  to  what  is  here  premised 
in  the  sequel. 

The  arguments  in  proof  of  the  resurrection  of  the  same  natural  or 
animal  body,  generally  concentrate  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  advocates  of  this  sentiment  plead,  That  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  was  a  real  fact — that  there  could  be  no  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  without  the  resurrection  and  reanimation  of  the  same  material 
body  which  he  inhabited  before  his  crucifixion  ;  because  the  resurrec- 
tion of  that  body  is  the  grand  point  in  which  his  resurrection  consist- 
ed, so  that  to  deny  the  resurrection,  reanimation,  and  ascension  of 
that  material  body,  is  the  same  as  to  deny  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  altogether — that  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  is  an  exam- 
ple and  pledge  of  that  of  his  people ;  therefore,  the  resurrection  of 
the  material  body  of  the  saints  is  an  undoubted  fact  to  be  expect- 
ed in  the  fulfillment  of  the  promises  of  God  in  Christ ;  as  the  grand 
point  in  which  the  resurrection  of  his  people  consists,  consequently, 
it  is  considered  erroneous  to  teach  that  the  resurrection  is  come,  until 
those  material  bodies  actually  arise.  These  considerations  render 
the  subject  serious. 

With  respect  to  the  first  particular  here  stated,  as  pleaded  by  the 
abettors  of  the  resurrection  of  the  material  body — That  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ  was  and  is  a  real  fact ;  it  is  granted  without 
hesitation.  And  also  that  his  resurrection  is  the  example  and  pledge 
of  that  of  his  people,  is  freely  acknowledged.  But  the  second  pro- 
position is  not  granted,  neither  can  it  be  proved,  neither  the  inference 
drawn  from  it.     For,  in  the  first  place, 

It  is  no  where  explicitly  stated  in  the  Scriptures,  that  the  same 
material  body  of  Jesus  arose,  or  had  any  part  in  his  resurrection. 
Had  that  been  the  case,  it  was  quite  natural  for  it  to  have  been  men- 
tioned, as  that  was  the  particular  object  of  the  disciples'  attention,  for 
which  they  sought,  and  of  which  alone  they  seemed  to  have  any  real 
knowledge  or  understanding  :  for  as  yet  the  Holy  Spirit  had  not  been 
given,  to  lead  them  into  the  knowledge  of  spiritual  things.  Accord- 
ingly, both  Peter  and  Mary  and  those  with  them,  made  their  search 


330  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

for  the  body.  And  Mary,  because  sbe  saw  not  tbe  body,  said, 
"  They  have  taken  away  my  Lord."  And  the  angel,  adapting  his 
language  to  the  understanding  of  the  women,  said,  "  Come  see  the 
place  where  the  Lord  lay."  This  manner  of  speech  was  no  doubt 
common  in  those  days,  as  it  is  also  in  these.  Nothing  is  more  com- 
mon than  to  say  such  a  man  was  buried  there,  or  he  lies  there,  when, 
at  the  same  time,  no  one  believes  the  man  is  there  at  all,  but  the  visi- 
ble part,  the  body,  or  carcase,  is  there,  and  that  serves  as  a  reason 
for  such  language  ;  but  the  most  essential  constituent  of  the  man  is 
believed  to  be  somewhere  else,  so  that  professors  do  not  hesitate  to 
talk  of  such  a  one's  being  in  heaven.     In  the  next  place, 

With  all  that  is  said  on  the  resurrection  of  Christ  and  his  confirma- 
tion of  the  fact,  there  is  no  language  used  in  the  Scriptures,  but  what 
is  capable  of  being  consistently  understood,  without  implying  that  his 
material  body  had  any  share  in  the  true  resurrection  or  ascension. 
Yet  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  he  appeared  to  his  disciples  invested 
with  a  body  which  could  be  apprehended  by  their  senses.  Of  which 
hereafter. 

Now  if  all  the  expressions  used  in  the  Scriptures,  in  proving  and 
describing  this  fact,  be  capable  of  a  consistent  acceptation  without 
implying  the  resurrection,  reanimation,  and  ascension  of  the  same 
material  body,  to  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  that  view  of  the  re- 
surrection fails  of  being  established.  For  no  language  can  prove  or 
establish  any  fact,  except  that  which  cannot  be  consistently  under- 
stood in  a  different  light,  especially  when  pointed  language,  of  equal 
authenticity,  teaches  the  contrary  :  which  will  be  inquired  into  here- 
after. 

It  is  farther  to  be  considered  here,  and  kept  in  mind  through  the 
whole  inquiry  and  argumentation,  that  unless  the  ascension  of  the 
same  material  body  to  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  can  be  establish- 
ed, the  above  plan  of  a  literal  resurrection  must  fall  to  the  ground. 
For  he  is  the  life  as  well  as  the  resurrection,  and  that  which  arose 
must  also  have  ascended,  and  live  for  ever,  else  not  be  a  participator 
in  the  resurrection  of  Christ ;  and  to  consider  the  resurrection  of  the 
same  body  as  an  example  and  pledge  of  that  of  the  saints,  and  then 
to  suppose  that  body  not  to  ascend  as  aforesaid,  would  render  the 
resurrection  of  the  saints  a  blank. 

In  the  histories  of  the  evangelists  we  find  the  following  remark- 
able language,  which  is  argued  as  an  unequivocal  proof  of  a  real 
material  body,  consequently  the  same  which  was  crucified:  "And 
they  came  and  held  him  by  the  feet,  and  worshipped  him."  (Matt. 
xxviii.  9.)  "  And  as  they  thus  spake,  Jesus  himself  stood  in  the  midst 
of  them,  and  saith  unto  them.  Peace  be  unto  you.  But  they  were 
terrified  and  affrighted,  and  supposed  that  they  had  seen  a  spirit.  And 
he  said  unto  them,  why  are  ye  troubled  .''  and  why  do  thoughts  arise 
in  your  hearts  .?  Behold  my  hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself: 
handle  me  and  see  :  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see 
me  have.  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  he  showed  them  his  hands 
and  his  side."  (Luke  xxiv.  36-40.)  "  Then  the  same  day  at  even- 
ing, being  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  doors  were  shut,  where 
the  disciples  were  assembled  for  fear  of  the  Jews,  came  Jesus,  and 
stood  in  the  midst,  and  saith  unto  them,  Peace  be  unto  you.     And 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  331 

when  he  had  so  said  he  showed  unto  them  his  hands  and  his  side. 
Then  were  the  disciples  glad  when  they  saw  the  Lord."  "  And  after 
eight  days  again  his  disciples  were  within,  and  Thomas  with  them : 
then  came  Jesus,  the  doors  being  shut,  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and 
said.  Peace  be  unto  you.  Then  saithhe  to  Thomas,  Reach  hither  thy 
finger,  and  behold  my  hands  ;  and  reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  thrust 
it  into  my  side  ;  and  be  not  faithless  but  believing.  And  Thomas 
answered  and  said  unto  him,  My  Lord  and  my  God."  (Jno.  xx.  19, 
20,  26,  27,  28.)     Here,  it  is  argued,  was  a  real,  material  body. 

It  has  been  granted  above,  that  he  appeared  in  a  body  which  coidd 
be  apprehended  by  the  senses,  seen  and  felt.  But  it  is  argued  that 
it  was  a  body  of  flesh  and  bones  :  so  be  it ;  therefore  a  body  which 
could  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  consequently  did  not 
ascend  thither.  For  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God  ;  and  it  is  known  that  flesh  and  bones  do  not  live  without  blood, 
because  the  life  of  all  (such)  living  is  the  blood  thereof;  and  it  is 
evident  that  the  phrases,  flesh  and  blood  and  flesh  and  bones,  literally 
mean  one  and  the  same  thing — the  animal  constitution  distinctly  from 
the  spirit ;  the  latter  of  which  is  capable  of  inheriting  the  kingdom 
of  God,  but  not  the  former. 

But  this  body  had  the  wounds  in  the  hands,  feet  and  side,  and 
therefore  must  be  the  same  body.  If  the  wounds  prove  it  to  have 
been  the  same  body  which  was  pierced  with  the  spear  and  the  nails 
in  the  crucifixion,  they  also  prove  it  to  have  remained  in  the  same 
material  state  as  when  he  was  crucified  and  buried ;  but  that  was  not 
possible,  because  he  had  appeared  to  some  in  a  different  form  once 
or  twice,  on  that  same  day,  in  the  evening  of  which  he  came  and 
stood  in  the  midst,  and  showed  himself,  on  the  first  occasion  of  which 
John  has  related  these  circumstances.  This  appearance  was  in  the 
evening  of  the  first  day  after  the  resurrection,  as  particularly  stated 
by  both  Luke  and  John,  who  both  relate  the  same  interview  between 
Jesus  and  his  disciples. 

Now  to  have  preserved  the  wounds  safe  through  such  changes,  or 
to  have  restored  them  to  their  former  state  for  the  disciples  to  see 
them,  implies  an  accommodation  of  his  appearance  to  their  prejudices 
and  natural  senses  as  really  as  an  assumption  of  the  whole  body,  or 
the  accommodating  of  himself  to  their  senses  while  the  animal  body 
constituted  no  part  of  the  representation  ;  the  existence  therefore  of 
those  wounds  proves  nothing  in  favour  of  that  being  the  same  body 
which  had  been  crucified.  Add  to  this  the  remarkable  fact  of  his 
coming  and  showing  himself  to  them  when  the  doors  were  shut,  so 
carefully  related  by  John,  in  his  narrative  both  of  the  evening  of  the 
first  day  and  also  of  the  eighth  after,  when  Thomas  was  present.  Un- 
questionably the  evangelist,  in  relating  this  fact  so  carefully  on  each 
of  these  occasions,  intended  to  indicate  something  extraordinary  or 
miraculous  in  it.  If  then  the  miracle  consisted  in  the  same  material 
body's  being  found  in  the  house,  or  coming  in,  when  the  common 
avenues  adapted  to  the  entrance  of  such  bodies  were  all  closed,  it 
proves  unequivocally  that  these  wounds  were  also  miraculously  preserved 
or  restored,  to  accommodate  the  appearance  to  the  prejudices  and 
carnal  weaknesses  of  the  disciples.  The  discovery  therefore,  or  the 
existence  of  these  wounds,  is  no  proof  of  its  being  the  same  body,  for 


332  OF    THE    RESUERECTION. 

it  was  as  natural,  according  to  tlie  view  here  stated,  to  sliow  tiiein  in 
one  body  as  anotlier.  With  respect  to  the  silly  plea  which  I  have 
heard,  that  Jesus  had  gone  into  the  house  and  concealed  himself,  while 
the  doors  were  yet  open,  it  implicates  him  in  the  commission  of  a  fraud, 
or  the  disciples  in  an  uncandid  statement  of  facts  ;  or  both.  For  him 
to  come  into  the  midst  of  them,  the  doors  being  shut,  if  he  had  come 
in  before,  was  no  more  extraordinary  than  for  any  other  man  to  step 
into  a  company  ;  and  the  supposition  gives  the  whole  narrative  the  ap- 
pearance of  fiction  and  affectation,  and  not  a  relation  of  simple  facts  : 
the  notion  is  chimerical. 

As  for  the  objection  which  some  make,  that  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject represents  Jesus  as  putting  a  cheat  on  the  disciples,  persuading 
them  it  was  the  same  body  when  it  was  not,  it  is  easily  obviated. 
This  reply  is  plain  and  simple.  That  he  was  the  same  Jesus  Christ 
who  had  before  conversed  with  them  and  had  been  crucified,  and 
that  was  the  point  to  be  proved ;  but  that  he  was  then  clothed  with 
the  same  animal  body  in  which  he  had  formerly  dwelt,  the  disciples 
never  tell  us  that  it  was  the  same  or  that  they  thought  it  was.  And 
admitting  that  in  their  ignorance  of  spiritual  things  and  the  earthly 
conceptions  relative  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  they  then  had  and 
retained  until  after  the  ascension  and  the  giving  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
they  had  no  other  apprehension  or  conception,  than  that  he  appeared 
to  them  in  the  same  body  as  before,  that  being  the  extent  of  their 
knowledge  or  prospects  ;  this  being  an  admissible  case,  (which  I 
would  not  peremptorily  contradict,)  is  no  proof,  either  that  the  former 
animal  body  was  a  partaker  of  the  true  resurrection,  or  that  the  dis- 
ciples were  imposed  on  by  any  fraudulent  or  deceptive  measures. 
They  received  such  evidences  of  the  truth  as  their  weaknesses  re- 
quired, and  their  infancy  in  spiritual  things  admitted  ;  for  they  were 
yet  unacquainted  with  the  distinction  between  the  natural  and  spir- 
itual creation — between  the  old  man  and  the  new.  And  there  could 
be  no  deception  in  his  appearing  to  them  in  the  old.  creation,  or  body, 
or  an  assumed  body  in  the  appearance  of  the  old,  until  they  were 
convinced  of  his  resurrection,  his  being  alive  and  his  really  appear- 
ing to  them,  and  until  they  obtained  more  correct  knowledge  of  his 
true  character  in  the  new  creation,  more  than  in  any  man's  putting  on 
a  coat  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  wear,  or  one  resembling  it 
where  the  people  were  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  him  to  know 
him  without  such  coat,  and  yet  the  necessity  of  his  being  known  were 
indispensable. 

If  it  was  an  imposition  or  cheat  for  Jesus  Christ  to  show  himself  to 
his  disciples  in  a  form  adapted  to  their  senses  and  apprehension,  when 
he  was  not  clothed  in  the  same  flesh  and  blood  which  he  had  formerly 
taken  on  him,  it  was  no  less  an  imposition,  to  intimate  that  the  wounds 
had  remained  as  they  were,  after  having  passed  through  that  which 
rendered  it  impossible.  And  no  reason  can  be  produced,  why  he  should 
carry  those  wounds,  after  he  arose,  had  he  even  inhabited  the  same 
body,  except  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  senses  and  understanding 
of  his  disciples,  so  as  to  gain  their  consent  to  the  truth  of  his  being 
alive,  or  the  truth  of  his  resurrection.  Figures  and  shadowy  repre- 
sentations are  not  the  substance ;  yet  they  are  not  false  or  fraudulent, 
when  they  subserve  the  purpose  of  conveying  evidence  to  the  under- 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  333 

standing  and  of  establishing  truth.  The  disciples  were  yet  in  nature, 
the  Holy  Spirit  being  not  yet  given,  and  needed  natural  and  percepti- 
ble representations,  to  confirm  them  in  the  faith  of  that  substance  which 
is  spiritual. 

But  the  advocates  for  the  resurrection  of  the  animal  body  argue  far- 
ther ;  That  as  the  body  had  now  become  spiritual,  it  coiild  be  put  into 
any  form,  or  removed  to  any  place,  on  any  necessary  occasion,  with 
the  utmost  ease,  a  spiritual  body  being  unresisted  by  matter.  With- 
out this  expedient  there  is  no  accounting  for  the  various  appearances 
which  took  place,  as  passing  into  the  house,  the  doors  being  shut,  dis- 
appearing in  the  open  light,  and  the  like.  But  this  argiiment  militates 
directly  against  the  common  plea,  that  it  was  properly  flesh  and  bones, 
and  the  same  in  which  he  was  crucified.  Thus  the  arguments  on  that 
side  of  the  question  destroy  each  other,  and  like  the  witnesses  against 
Christ  in  old  time,  agree  not  among  themselves.  For  the  arguments 
adduced  to  prove  the  resurrection  of  the  same  material  body,  assert 
that  it  is  yet  material,  flesh  and  bones,  consequently  that  which  cannot 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  therefore  can  have  no  participation 
in  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  as  already  proved.  But  if,  to  avoid  this 
difficulty,  it  be  argued  that  the  body  which  was  raised  was  spiritual, 
the  one  argument  invalidates  the  other,  and  there  remains  no  proof  of 
its  being  the  former  material  body.  And  if  it  be  said  that  the  body  of 
Jesus  is  not  asserted  or  believed  to  have  been  proper  flesh  and  bones 
after  the  resurrection,  but  that  which  had  been  such,  now  become  a 
spiritual  body  ;  I  ask  what  peculiar  faculty,  or  ability,  such  a  spiritual 
body  would  possess  to  favour  the  appearance  of  flesh  and  bones,  or 
what  claim  it  would  have  to  be  so  denominated,  above  that  which  was 
originally  spiritual }  Spirit  is  spirit  ;  and  that  which  is  of  the  spirit 
is  also  spirit.  And  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  of  the  flesh  is  also 
flesh.  So  that  all  such  notions  of  flesh  and  blood,  or  flesh  and  bones, 
becoming  spirit,  or  being  so  modified  as  to  constitute  a  spiritual  body, 
are  without  foundation. 

But  the  crowning  argument  with  some  may  be,  that  the  body  of 
Jesus  was  not  transformed  into  a  spiritual  body,  as  long  as  he  con- 
versed with  his  disciples,  but  was  thus  translated  when  he  ascended  to 
heaven.  But  this  proposition  lacks  proof.  It  also  militates  against 
the  Scripture  testimony,  and  even  contradicts  it,  concerning  the  re- 
surrection of  the  dead,  of  which  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  main- 
tained, not  improperly,  to  be  an  example  ;  It  is  raised  a  spiritual  body: 
of  this  hereafter.  Neither  is  the  above  proposition  free  from  the  for- 
mer difiiculty,  that  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God. 
And  the  Scripture  makes  no  provision  for  any  qualification  of  that  un- 
equivocal expression ;  for  neither  is  there  any  doctrine  in  revelation, 
nor  any  principle  in  natural  reason,  philosophy  or  morals,  to  teach  us 
that  matter  can,  by  any  method  or  degree  of  modification,  be  trans- 
formed into  spirit ;  all  such  conceptions  therefore,  are  at  best  vague 
and  groundless. 

This  sentence,  "  A  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me 
have,"  contains  no  real  proof  that  it  was  the  same  body,  when  two 
things  are  considered:  First;  the  intention  of  the  expression;  which 
was  to  convince  the  disciples  that  he  was  a  real  man,  the  same  Lord 
Jesus  whom  they  had  formerly  known,  and  by  the  way  to  dispel  their 


334  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

fears,  and  so  bring  them  to  be  composed  and  conversable.  For  they 
were  terrified  and  affrighted,  and  supposed  they  had  seen  a  spirit. 
This  shows  that  he  had  not  the  common  appearance  :  for  why  should 
they  be  terrified  at  the  sight  of  a  man  with  whom  they  had  been  so 
long  conversant,  or  suppose  him  to  be  some  unknown  spirit,  having 
already  heard  that  he  had  risen  ?  The  answer,  however,  was  well  cal- 
culated to  soothe  their  minds,  until  they  should  become  better  ac- 
quainted with  him  in  his  true  order. 

The  terror  with  which  the  disciples  were  seized  on  that  occasion, 
and  the  reason  assigned,  strongly  indicate  the  necessity  which  existed, 
that  he  should  show  himself  to  them  a  man  in  full  form  with  flesh 
and  bones.  They  were  ten-ified  and  affrighted,  and  supposed  that 
they  had  seen  a  spirit.  From  this  it  appears  they  knew  very  little 
about  spirits  :  they  had  not  yet  understood  that  their  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter was  a  spirit.  But  they  were  now  in  a  kind  of  deserted,  forlorn 
condition — their  Lord  had  been  crucified — the  Jews  were  their  ene- 
mies, for  fear  of  whom  they  were  gathered  together  into  that  house — 
and  in  the  midst  of  these  calamities,  as  if  to  perfect  their  misery, 
behold !  a  spirit — an  evil  spirit,  or  demon,  as  they  supposed — a  mes- 
senger of  evil.  For  why  should  they  have  been  afraid  of  a  heavenly 
spirit — an  angel  of  peace  t  But  their  understanding  was  small  on 
these  subjects.  No  method  therefore  was  so  proper,  to  calm  their 
fears,  as  to  present  himself  to  them,  a  man  in  full  form,  and  perfect 
in  all  his  members,  and  give  them  a  fair  opportunity  to  examine 
him,  together  with  the  wounds  which  he  had  wisely  retained  for  this 
purpose,  until  they  were  satisfied  that  This  is  He.  It  has  been 
already  evinced  that  such  representations  imply  no  fraud.  Observe : 
It  is  not  said,  I  am  flesh,  or,  I  have  flesh  and  bones ;  but  a  spirit  hath 
not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me  have — as  ye  behold  or  [^scopsr^a]  con- 
template me  as  having ;  a  form  of  expression  perfectly  consistent 
with  an  accommodating  appearance,  or  an  assumed  body  for  accom- 
modation's sake.  For  the  Lord,  even  Jesus  Christ,  is  a  Spii'it,  and 
therefore  has  neither  flesh  nor  bones. 

Secondly :  We  are  told  by  the  learned  that,  according  to  the  idiom 
or  manner  of  the  Jews,  whose  language  Jesus  and  his  disciples  used, 
they  said  any  thing  is  so  when  it  appeared  to  be  ;  and  there  are  exam- 
ples in  the  Scriptures  to  confirm  this  observation.  Accordingly  it  is 
said,  (Gen.  v.  24,)  "  And  Enoch  walked  with  God,  and  he  was  not :  for 
God  took  him."  He  did  not  cease  to  be,  he  only  disappeared  from 
the  earth.  "  And  (Jno.  i.  14)  the  Word  was  made  flesh  ;"  that  is,  was 
clothed  with  flesh,  or,  took  on  him  flesh  and  blood  such  as  the  children 
had.  Again,  (2  Cor.  v.  21 :)  "For  he  hath  made  him  who  knew  no 
sin,  sin  for  us."  For  our  sakes  he  prepared  him  a  body,  and  clothed 
him  in  flesh  and  blood,  such  as  the  children  had,  sinful  as  it  was,  thus 
laying  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all.  But  who  is  dark  enough  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Word  which  was  God  was  also  proper  flesh,  or  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  really  sin  ?  Again,  (Rom.  v.  20  :)  "  Moreover  the  law  en- 
tered that  the  offence  might  abound."  That  it  might  be  seen  how 
much  it  did  abound ;  for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin.  Once 
more,  (Rom.  vi.  17  :)  "  But  God  be  thanked  that  ye  were  the  servants 
of  sin."  That  ye  have  seen  that  ye  were  servants,  and  taken  the  con- 
viction.    These  examples  are  sufficient  to  confirm  the  observation,  that 


OP    THE    RESURRECTION.  335 

it  was  according  to  the  Jews'  manner  to  say,  on  many  occasions,  that 
such  a  matter  is,  when  it  appeared  to  be.  The  saying  of  Jesus,  there- 
fore, after  the  fullest  examination,  contains  neither  assertion  nor  con- 
clusive proof  that  he  then  possessed  the  same  animal  body  which  he 
had  formerly  inhabited. 

The  saying  of  Matthew,  "  And  they  came  and  held  him  by  the 
feet,"  contains  no  decisive  proof  that  it  was  the  same  body.  Before 
any  such  fact  can  be  established  from  that  saying,  we  must  have  it 
proved  that  the  body  which  Christ  possessed  when  divested  of  the  clay 
tenement,  and  which  saints  also  possess  eventually,  is  incapable  of  per- 
ceptibility and  form,  and  also  that  he  was  unable  to  assume  percepti- 
bility for  the  satisfaction  of  those  women. 

Another  particular  related  by  Luke,  of  that  first  memorable  evening, 
was  his  eating,  (xxiv.  41-43  :)  "  And  while  they  yet  believed  not  for 
joy,  and  wondered,  he  said  unto  them.  Have  ye  here  any  meat.?  And 
they  gave  him  a  piece  of  a  broiled  fish  and  of  an  honeycomb.  And 
he  took  it,  and  did  eat  before  them."  It  is  presumable  that  few,  if  any, 
will  be  so  weak  as  to  suppose  this  was  done  for  any  thing  else  than  a 
sign,  to  take  oif  their  excessive  commotion  of  mind,  to  render  them 
more  conversable  by  becoming  more  familiar  with  them,  and  eventually 
to  confirm  their  faith  in  the  resurrection,  and  in  him  as  their  Lord  and 
Master.  Now  if  this  sign  could  not  have  been  given  without  the  use 
of  the  same  body  which  he  formerly  inhabited,  it  must  undoubtedly 
have  been  there.  But  I  presume  none  will  say  that  Jesus  had  not 
power  to  give  it  through  some  other  medium ;  it  therefore  fails  of  prov- 
ing the  presence  of  the  same  body. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    SUBJECT    CONTINUED  ;     WITH    SOME    ATTENTION    TO    PSOPHETIC 

SCRIPTURES. 

Several  other  particulars  are  recorded  by  the  evangelists  in  con- 
firmation of  the  fact  that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead  ;  but  I  have  pur- 
posely selected  those  which  had  the  greatest  appearance  of  favouring 
those  who  plead  that  the  same  material  body  arose,  and  ascended,  and 
that  the  same  material  bodies  of  the  saints  must  also  arise.  My  ob- 
ject in  selecting  these  has  been  that  the  labour  might  be  shortened, 
both  in  writing  and  reading  ;  for  these  comprehend  every  evidence 
contained  in  the  other  particulars,  and  so  present  the  whole  in  a  shorter 
view  than  could  have  been  done  by  quoting  every  passage  which  speaks 
of  these  things.  And  in  all  these,  and  all  the  rest,  although  there  is 
sufficient  proof  that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead,  yet  there  is  none  either 
by  express  testimony  or  by  necessary  consequence,  that  the  same  body 
arose  ;  because  all  the  language  is  capable  of  a  different  acceptation 


336  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

consistently  with  tnith.  For,  as  before  intimated,  it  is  perfectly  just 
to  plead,  that  as  long  as  the  language  alleged  in  proof  of  the  fact  is 
capable  of  a  different  acceptation,  it  cannot  pass  for  proof,  especially 
considering  that  other  Scriptures  of  equal  authenticity  more  explicitly 
teach  the  contrary.  Uncertain  consequential  arguments,  and  these 
partly  analogical,  however  plausible,  without  explicit  testimony,  must 
not  be  allowed  to  overbalance  proposed  and  explicit  teachings  of  equal 
authority ;  neither  can  literal  and  natural  representations  of  a  spirit- 
ual work,  adapted  to  the  understanding  of  natural  men,  be  admitted 
as  being  capable  of  communicating  the  knowledge  and  understanding 
of  said  work,  as  well  as  the  work  itself,  or  the  language  and  experience 
of  those  who  travel  in  it. 

The  subjects  of  every  new  dispensation  require  the  light  and  teach- 
ings of  that  dispensation  before  they  can  understand  the  nature  and 
order  of  its  works.      The  apostles  were  just  emerging  from  a  dis- 
pensation which  consisted  in  outward  things,  in  meats  and  drinks, 
and  divers  washings  and  carnal   ordinances,  and  which  had  only  a 
shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  and  not  even  the  real  image  of  the 
things,  (Heb.  ix.  10  and  x.  1,)  and  were  properly  in  a  carnal  state, 
and  had  earthly  conceptions  of  the  work  of  Christ  and  kingdom  of 
God,  as  their  works  and  language  every  where  show.     At  one  time 
they  were  inclined  to  command  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven  to 
consume  those  who  did  not  receive  their  master.   (Luke  ix.  54.)    At 
another  time  they  undertook  to  defend  him  with  the  sword.  (Jno.  xviii. 
10  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  51.)      And  at  another  time  Peter  undertook  to  re- 
buke Jesus  himself,  because  he  showed  them  what  should  befall  him, 
"  That  he  must  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  suffer  many  things  of  the    el- 
ders and  chief  priests  and  scribes,  and  be  killed  and  be  raised  again 
the  third  day.     Then  Peter  took  him  and  began  to  rebuke  him,  say- 
ing. Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord:  this  shall  not  be  unto  thee."     No 
doubt  but  he  intended  to  fight  courageously.     But  Jesus  ordered  him 
to  get  behind  him,  as  one  who  stood  in  his  way,  and  called  him  Satan, 
an  enemy,  telling  him  in  plain  terms  that  he  savoured  the  things  of 
men,  who  seek  ease  and  protection  to  the  flesh,  and  not  the  things  of 
God,  whose  way  is  to  crucify  the  flesh  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved, 
"  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  :  thou  art  an  offence  to  me  :  for  thou 
savourest  not  the  things  that  be  of  God,  but  those  that  be  of  men." 
(Matt.  xvi.  21-23.)     And  so  deeply  were  they  all  lost  in  a  carnal 
sense  of  things,  and  in  ignorance  of  the  work  and  kingdom  of  God, 
that  when  Jesus  was  taken  and  crucified,  they  felt  themselves  forsak- 
en, and  became  disconsolate,  as  though  all  had  been  lost.     For  not- 
withstanding all  the  teachings  which  they  had  received  from  his  own 
mouth,  and  the  writings  of  their  own  prophets,  they  knew  not  that  he 
was  to  be  put  to  death  and  to  rise  again,  "  For  as  yet  they  knew  not 
the  Scripture,  that  he  must  rise  again  from  the  dead,"  (Jno.  xx.  9,) 
and  when  it  came  to  pass,  they  were  with  difl&culty  prevailed  on  to  be- 
lieve, by  the  plainest  testimony  of  their  own  senses,  as  their  history 
shows.     And  even  after  he  had  risen  and  they  had  believed  and  con- 
versed with  him  about  forty  days,  their  carnal  sense  greatly  remained, 
and  they  still  expected  an  earthly  kingdom.     And  hoping,  that  as  he 
was  risen  from  the  dead  to  their  full   conviction  and  satisfaction,  the 
time  had  come  when  he  would  commence  his  reign  with  them  for  ever, 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  337 

"  Tliey  asked  of  him,  saying,  Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore 
again  the  kingdom  to  Israel  ?  And  he  said  unto  them,  It  is  not  for 
you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  reserved 
in  his  own  power.  But  ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  come  upon  you."  (Acts.  i.  6-8.)  They  asked  him,  if  he 
would  at  this  time  restore  the  kingdom,  as  though  they  had  once  had 
it,  (when  that  which  they  had  had  was  only  carnal,)  after  he  had  so 
plainly  taught  them  long  before,  that  the  kingdom  is  within,  and 
cometh  not  with  observation  or  outward  show.  But  knowing  their 
earthly  conceptions  and  their  short-sightedness  in  spiritual  matters, 
he  referred  them  t(^  the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  shortly  to  be 
given  to  them,  who^e  ofl&ce  it  was  to  guide  them  into  all  truth,  and  to 
take  of  the  things  of  Jesus  Christ  and  show  to  them  ;  whom  after 
they  had  received,  they  began  to  understand  the  spiritual  nature  of 
the  work  and  kingdom  of  God. 

Now  it  could  not  be  expected,  that  the  disciples,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  those  earthly  views  with  which  they  were  so  strongly  prepos- 
sessed, according  to  the  works  and  teaching  of  the  dispensation  in 
which  they  had  been  educated,  could  suddenly  receive  the  knowledge 
and  understanding  of  a  spiritual  kingdom  and  of  the  resurrection  to 
eternal  life  in  that  kingdom,  without  such  evidences  and  representa- 
tions, adapted  to  their  senses  and  their  understanding,  as  were  suffi- 
cient to  establish  the  fact,  that  Jesus  did  arise,  and  confirm  them  in 
the  belief  of  it,  the  true  nature  of  which  they  had  afterwards  to  learn, 
by  a  farther  experience  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And 
for  the  same  reason,  it  behoved  these  disciples,  in  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel to  others,  who  laboured  under  the  same  disadvantages,  or  greater, 
to  present  to  them  such  evidences  as  were  calculated  to  beget  in  them 
the  faith  of  the  fact,  that  Christ  arose  from  the  dead,  by  addressing 
them  in  such  language  as  they  could  understand,  although  by  so  do- 
ing, they  were  obliged  to  dwell  greatly  in  the  letter,  and  leave  the 
true  spiritual  substance  to  be  learned  by  future  experience.  All  peo- 
ple must  be  children  in  grace,  as  well  as  in  nature,  before  they  can  be 
men  and  women  of  full  age,  grown  up  into  him  in  all  things,  who  is 
the  head,  even  Christ. 

It  will  likely  be  objected  that  it  is  unfair  to  make  a  studied  labour 
of  explaining  all  these  facts  in  such  a  manner  as  to  exclude  the  re- 
surrection of  the  animal  body,  when  a  simple  attention  to  the  narra- 
tive would  certainly  fix  that  impression.  Thus  it  has  been  objected 
to  me,  that  a  child  would  receive  the  understanding  of  the  natural 
body  as  being  raised,  by  just  reading  or  hearing  the  account.  I  ac- 
knowledge the  truth  of  the  observation,  but  not  the  propriety  of  the 
argument.  And  no  doubt  a  child,  or  minor,  previously  to  better  in- 
formation, being  necessarily  ignorant  of  the  nature  and  order  of  spir- 
its, or  spiritual  existence,  would  readily  receive  the  impression  of  a 
natural  body,  as  well  as  others  who  know  nothing  beyond  nature  ;  but 
the  argument  is  disingenuous,  for  although  Jesus  enjoined  it  on  all,  to 
become  as  little  children,  that  requisition  did  not  relate  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  spiritual  nature  of  his  work  and  kingdom,  but  to  sim- 
plicity of  manners,  teachableness  and  the  like.  Hence  the  Apostle's 
exhortation,  "  Brethren,  be  not  children  in  understanding ;  howbeit 
in  malice  be  ye  children,  but  in  understanding  be  men."  (1  Cor.  xiv. 
23 


338;  OF    THE    KESURRECTION. 

20.)  It  is  also  granted  that  the  narrative  of  facts  given  by  the  evan- 
gelists would  readily  fix  the  impression  of  the  animal  body,  were  there 
no  testimonies  to  the  contrary,  and  were  not  the  subject  better  under- 
stood by  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  in  those  who  have  travelled  in  their 
spirits  into  the  same  work  with  Christ,  as  the  apostles  began  to  do  af- 
ter the  Spirit  descended  on  thern  ;  or  could  the  resurrection  of  the 
animal  body  be  once  established  by  unquestionable  testimony,  the  dif- 
ferent facts  recorded  by  the  evangelists  would  be  strong  corrobora- 
tives, naturally  coinciding  with  such  testimony.  But  such  unequiv- 
ocal testimony  is  wanting.  And  it  cannot  be  unfair,  in  a  subject  of  so 
serious  a  nature,  to  examine  the  evidences  with  the  utmost  scrupulosi- 
ty, and  give  them  no  more  weight  than  they  necessarily  and  justly 
claim. 

Another  objection  is,  That  if  the  same  body  did  not  rise,  it  could 
not  be  the  same  Jesus  Christ,  for  he  could  not  properly  exist  as  the 
man  Jesus  without  it.  I  would  ask.  What  imperfection,  inability, 
or  deficiency,  existed  in  Jesus  the  Son  of  God  above  other  men,  that 
he  could  not  exist  and  be  the  same  Jesus  Christ  without  a  body  of 
clay  .''  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  had  laid  off  the  tabernacle  of  clay, 
ages  before  the  ministration  of  Moses,  and  yet  they  existed  in  his 
days,  the  same  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  the  Lord  remembered 
them  and  was  their  God.  But  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but 
of  the  living.  Moses  also,  though  he  had  been  dead  hundreds  of  years, 
and  his  body  buried  in  one  of  the  hills  over  against  Beth-Peor,  was 
alive  in  the  days  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  came  in  company  with  Elias,  and 
talked  with  him  in  the  mount,  and  the  disciples  saw  him,  and  it  was 
Moses :  so  says  the  evangelist.  If  these  and  many  more  could  exist, 
and  retain  their  personality  and  name,  before  the  resurrection  was 
completed,  and  while  their  animal  bodies  were  in  the  dust,  how  much 
more  the  Son  of  God  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life  ?  a  true 
Spirit  of  divine  origin  .'' 

Another  objection  stands  thus  ;  if  the  animal  body  did  not  rise,  there 
was  no  resurrection  in  the  case,  for  none  but  that  body  died.  This 
objection  originates  in  ignorance  of  what  the  true  resurrection  is.  Je- 
sus laid  down  the  tabernacle  and  descended  into  the  common  state, 
or  place,  of  the  dead,  and  returned  again  to  be  seen  among  the  living, 
"  now  no  more  to  return  to  corruption."  And  the  Scripture  was  ful- 
filled, "  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell,  neither  wilt  thou  suffer 
thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption." 

Jesus  Christ,  the  first-born  Son  of  God,  was  a  man,  and  lived  a  Jew, 
being  born  under  the  law.  In  the  character  of  man,  he  was  invested 
with  the  whole  of  human  nature  in  its  fallen  state,  according  to  the  or- 
der of  the  first  Adam,  that  he  might  be  a  suitable  leader  to  lead  them 
out  of  their  lost  estate,  who  were  subjected  to  death  by  reason  of  sin. 
"  For  both  he  that  sanctifieth  and  they  who  are  sanctified  are  all  of 
one,  for  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren.  For- 
asmuch then  as  the  children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also 
himself  likewise  took  part  of  the  same  ;  that  through  death  he  might 
destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death  ;  and  deliver  them  who  through 
fear  of  death  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.  For  verily  he 
took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels  ;  but  he  took  on  him  the  seed  of 
Abraham.     Wherefore  in  all  things  it  behoved  him  to  be  made  like 


OF   THE    RESURRECTION.  339 

unto  his  brethren  ;  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest 
in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the 
people.  For  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered,  being  tempted,  he  is 
able  to  succour  them  that  are  tempted."  (Heb.  ii.  11,  14-18.)  "  All 
we,  like  sheep,  have  gone  astray  ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his 
own  way  ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all." — 
"  By  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  servant  jvistify  many;  for  he 
shall  bear  their  iniquities."  (Isa.  liii.  6,  11.)  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  who  taketh  away  [or  beareth  away]  the  sins  of  the  world,"  (Jno. 
i.  29.) 

As  a  Jew,  he  was  a  true  minister  of  that  dispensation  to  fulfill  it, 
and  to  open  the  door  for  the  salvation  of  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  the 
Jews.  "  For  he  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one 
who  believeth."  "  Now  I  say  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  minister  of  the 
circumcision  for  the  truth  of  God,  to  confirm  the  promises  made  to 
the  fathers  ;  and  that  the  Gentiles  might  glorify  God  for  his  mercy." 
(Rom.  X.  4,  and  xv.  8,  9.)  And  he  not  only  kept  the  Jewish  law, 
or  law  of  Moses  perfectly,  but  also  the  intermediate  dispensation  com- 
mitted to  John  as  his  forerunner,  submitting  to  his  baptism,  and  say- 
ing, "  Thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness,"  and  so  putting 
an  end  to  that.  And  this  was  consistent  with  the  views  which  John 
had  of  these  things,  that  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ  would  supersede 
his,  as  he  said,  "  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease."  (Jno.  iii. 
30.) 

Thus  keeping  his  way  fully  cleared  on  every  hand,  and  in  every 
character  which  he  filled,  he  stood  on  fair  ground  to  commence  the 
work  of  his  supreme  character,  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  first-born 
among  many  brethren  to  introduce  the  new  and  spiritual  family,  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Now  in  accomplishing  this  work,  the  labour  of 
Jesus  was  to  renounce  all  the  works  and  travel  out  of  all  the  nature 
of  the  first  Adam,  to  die  to  sin  and  live  to  God  according  to  the  law 
of  the  new  creation  :  for  he  is  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God. 
So  it  is  written  :  "  In  that  he  died,  he  died  to  sin  once  ;  but  in  that  he 
liveth,  he  liveth  to  God."  (Rom.  vi.  10.)  And  this  is  the  true  resur- 
rection of  Christ  and  of  his  people,  of  whom  he  is  the  example,  cap- 
tain and  leader,  of  which  all  other  resurrections  are  but  the  sign. 
But  this  remains  to  be  more  fully  stated  in  the  third  general  proposi- 
tion. 

Now  to  return  more  immediately  to  the  point  in  hand.  Having 
thus  far  examined  the  history  of  facts,  relating  to  the  resurrection  of 
the  man  Jesus,  I  shall  next  proceed  to  inquire  into  the  import  of  some 
portions  of  Scripture  of  a  prophetic  nature,  relating  to  the  same  sub- 
ject. 

When  the  Jews  had  asked  a  sign,  "  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
them,  destroy  this  temple  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up.  But 
he  spake  of  the  temple  of  his  body."  (Jno.  ii.  19,  21.)  This  Scrip- 
ture will  likely  be  considered  as  an  explicit  and  decisive  testimony, 
that  the  same  material  body  arose  and  ascended.  And  it  might  be 
so  considered  were  it  not  for  two  reasons.  The  first  is,  that  other 
Scriptures  more  copiously  teach  the  contrary,  as  will  be  shown  here- 
after. And  secondly.  We  are  not  without  example  of  the  same  form 
of  expression,  in  the  teachings  of  Christ,  wherein  the  same  is  not 


340  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

intended  ;  that  is,  where  the  demonstrative  pronoun  it  which  com- 
nionl)''  implies  the  same  as  the  antecedent  nonn  to  which  it  stands 
related,  does  not  in  these  instances  imply  the  same,  but  that  which 
succeeds  in  the  room  thereof.  "  For  whosoever  will  save  his  life 
shall  lose  it ;  but  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake,  the  same 
shall  find  it."  (Luke  ix.  24.)  This  text  is  a  plain  example  of  what 
is  stated  above  ;  for  the  life  which  the  man  is  here  said  to  save,  is  not 
the  same  which  he  would  lose  by  so  doing  ;  the  one  being  carnal,  the 
other  spiritual  and  eternal.  And  the  life  which  is  here  stated  as  be- 
ing lost  for  Christ's  sake,  is  not  the  same  which  is  found  by  so  doing, 
the  first  being  carnal  and  the  last  spiritual  and  eternal.  Yet  it  is  said 
he  that  loseth  his  life  shall  find  it  ;  which  it,  doth  not  signify  the 
same  life  which  is  lost,  but  that  which  succeeds.  So,  destroy  this 
temple,  or  body,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it,  doth  not  necessarily 
signify  the  raising  of  the  same  body,  but  of  that  which  succeeded,  or 
it  is  applicable  to  any  body  which  answered  the  purpose  of  his  being 
raised  ;  as  much  as  to  say.  Kill  me,  and  in  three  days  I  will  be  alive 
and  have  a  living  body. 

Another  argument,  vigorously  maintained,  for  the  resurrection  and 
ascension  of  the  same  material  body,  is  grounded  on  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist,  (xvi.  10,)  "  For  thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell ;  neither 
wilt  thou  suff'er  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption."  This  prophecy 
is  twice  quoted  by  the  apostles,  with  express  application  to  Christ 
and  his  resurrection.  Peter,  speaking  of  David,  says:  "He,  seeing 
this  before,  spake  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  that  his  soul  was  not 
left  in  hell,  neither  his  flesh  did  see  corruption."  (Acts  ii.  31.) 
And  Paul,  on  the  same  subject,  says  :  "  And  we  declare  unto  you 
glad  tidings,  how  that  the  promise  which  was  made  to  the  fathers, 
God  hath  fulfilled  the  same  to  us  their  children,  in  that  he  hath 
raised  up  Jesus  again ;  as  it  is  also  written  in  the  second  Psalm,  Thou 
art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.  And  as  concerning  that 
he  raised  him  up  from  the  dead,  now  no  more  to  return  to  corruption, 
he  said  on  this  wise,  I  will  give  you  the  sure  mercies  of  David.  For 
David  after  he  had  served  his  own  generation  by  the  will  of  God  fell 
on  sleep,  and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers,  and  saw  corruption  ;  but  he 
whom  God  raised  again  saw  no  corruption."  (Acts  xiii.  32-37.) 

It  is  remarkable,  that  in  all  which  is  said  by  both  these  apostles,  it 
is  not  once  said  that  the  material  body,  or  flesh,  was  that  which  arose. 
Paul,  in  all  he  said  while  commenting  on  the  remarkable  prophecy, 
did  not  once  name  the  body,  or  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  simply 
stated  that  he  was  raised  from  the  dead,  as  God  had  promised  to  do  ; 
a  fact  acknowledged  on  all  hands.  And  that  Jesus  could  be  raised 
from  the  dead,  and  exist,  the  same  Jesus,  without  the  same  material 
body,  had  been  already  proved. 

But  much  stress  has  been  laid  on  the  words  of  Peter,  "  Neither  his 
flesh  did  see  corruption."  That  this  is  figurative  language  is  evident ; 
for  a  dead  body  of  flesh  in  no  case  sees.  That  there  was  a  marked 
difl"erence  between  Jesus  and  David  with  respect  to  death  and  resur- 
rection is  not  denied  ;  for  David  was  buried,  and  as  other  men  do, 
remained  among  the  dead,  waiting  for  the  day  of  resurrection  and 
redemption,  while  his  body  remained  in  the  sepulchre  and  returned 
to  its  native  dust ;  but  Jesus,  who  was  the  resurrection  and  the  life, 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  341 

tliougli  te  expired  and  was  laid  in  a  tomb,  on  the  third  day  was  found 
among  the  living,  God  having  raised  him  from  the  dead,  having  loosed 
the  pains  of  death,  because  it  was  not  possible  he  could  be  holden  of 
it.  But  that  all  this  could  take  place  without  the  material  body  con- 
stituting any  part  of  the  true  resurrection,  has  been  already  shown, 
and  remains  to  be  farther  illustrated  in  its  proper  place. 

This  phrase,  therefore,  "neither  his  flesh  did  see  corruption," 
does  not  positively  prove  more  than  what  is  not  disputed,  that  he  did 
not  remain  under  the  power  of  death  as  others  had  done,  and  that  his 
material  body  did  not  remain  in  the  tomb  and  moulder  to  dust  as 
others  did  :  for  when  they  looked  into  the  tomb,  they  saw  not  the 
body  of  the  Lord. 

People  appear  as  intent  for  the  resurrection  of  the  animal  body  of 
Jesus,  as  if  they  thought  the  resurrection  disannulled,  and  Christ  and 
his  salvation  made  of  no  effect  without  it.  But  it  may  with  propriety 
be  asked  on  the  contrary.  What  use  had  he  for  that  body,  after  the 
end  for  which  he  took  it  on  him  was  accomplished  .''  That  end  accord- 
ing to  the  Scripture  was,  "  That  through  death  he  might  destroy  him 
that  had  the  power  of  death,  and  deliver  those  who,  through  fear  of 
death,  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage."  (Heb.  ii.  14,  15.) 
He  had  now  travailed  through  death  and  conquered  it,  with  him  that 
Lad  the  power  of  it ;  he  had  finished  the  work  which  the  Father  had 
given  him  to  do,  even  before  he  had  altogether  passed  through  that 
natural  death  of  the  animal  body  on  the  cross.  What  use,  therefore, 
had  he  for  that  body  any  longer  ?  Or  was  that  body  so  much 
superior  to  the  spirit,  that  without  it  he  could  not  be  glorified  with 
the  Father  himself,  with  the  glory  which  he  had  with  him  before  the 
world  was  ?  How  then  did  he  partake  of  that  glory  before  he  had 
put  on  said  body  ? 

Was  the  assumption  of  that  body  of  flesh  and  blood  the  work  of 
glorification  or  humiliation  .'  Not  of  glorification,  but  of  humiliation  ; 
this  needs  no  proof.  And  having  once  stooped  to  the  work  of 
humiliation,  must  he  forever  remain  under  it  ?  By  parity  of  reason, 
because  he  once  submitted  to  death,  he  must  forever  remain  under 
its  power,  or  lose  the  reward  of  victory  through  death,  and  exaltation 
through  his  humiliation.  (See  Phil.  ii.  6,  7,  &c.)  When  he  had 
passed  through  death  and  risen  from  the  dead,  the  foundation  was 
completely  laid,  he  being  the  chief  corner-stone  ;  he  had  opened  the 
new  and  living  way,  had  set  us  an  example  that  we  might  follow  his 
steps,  was  made  perfect  through  sufferings,  and  had  become  a  com- 
plete forerunner  and  captain  of  his  people.  And  what  now  remained, 
but  to  convince  his  disciples  of  the  truth  of  what  he  had  done,  and 
lead  them  into  an  understanding  of  its  nature  and  design  }  And  as 
the  work  and  kingdom  of  Christ  are  spiritual,  what  need  for  the 
animal,  or  material  body  .'' 

But  some  may  object,  that  this  reasoning  arraigns  the  work  of 
God,  and  inquires  into  matters  which  are  not  our  concern  ;  that  the 
work  of  God  is  evidence  enough  for  us,  and  that  the  fact  of  Christ's 
being  raised  from  the  dead  ought  to  silence  all  our  objections.  God's 
works  are  not  arbitrary  ;  and  it  is  not  contrary  to  true  obedience  and 
real  faith,  for  us  to  inquire  into  the  reason  and  nature  of  the  works 
©f  God,  as  far  as  will  be  profitable  for  the  ministration  of  light.     But 


342  OF    THE    RESURRECTIOW. 

let  the  fact  be  once  established,  that  Jesus  Christ  rose  from  the  dead, 
and  disputing  on  that  point  is  at  an  end  ;  this  is  the  undisputed  fact 
among  Christians.  And  let  it  be  established  by  the  authority  of  in- 
spiration, that  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead  con- 
sisted in  the  raising  again  of  the  material  body,  or  that  it  could  not  be 
accomplished  without  it,  and  disputing  is  at  an  end  on  that  point  also  : 
but  that  is  the  point  in  debate,  and  which  cannot  be  proved  in  the 
affirmative  until  it  be  first  proved,  that  that  material  body  constituted 
the  true  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  he  could  not  exist  without  it — the  nega- 
tive of  which  has  been  already  proved. 

It  may,  as  has  already  been  done,  be  objected  :  If  the  material  body 
did  not  actually  rise,  or  is  not  the  proper  subject  of  the  resurrection 
of  Christ,  what  was  done  with  it .?  for  it  was  not  found  in  the  tomb, 
neither  did  it  see  corruption.  Let  me  use  the  liberty  assumed  above, 
but  with  more  propriety,  and  say.  What  is  that  to  us  ^  Have  we  any 
right,  or  any  occasion  to  search  into  the  unrevealed  method  of  God's 
working,  and  that  too  in  a  matter  which  does  not  materially  affect  our 
salvation  ?  "It  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth  ;  the  flesh  profiteth 
nothing."  (Jno.  vi.  63.) 

But  to  obviate  this  objection  more  fully,  for  those  who  count  it 
weighty,  or  even  plausible,  let  me  ask  :  Was  there  not  as  much 
reason  for  removing  the  body  of  Jesus  from  the  tomb  as  for  conceal- 
ing the  body  of  Moses  from  the  Israelites,  so  that  no  man  knew  of 
his  sepulchre  ?  If  the  fathers  were  in  danger  of  worshipping  the  body 
or  tomb  of  Moses,  as  has  been  supposed,  (or  what  other  reason  can 
be  assigned  for  his  concealment.^)  on  account  of  his  great  character 
and  mighty  works,  how  much  more  might  the  body  of  Jesus,  who  so 
far  exceeded  Moses  in  the  glory  of  his  character  and  works,  have 
become  a  snare  to  his  followers,  and  a  real  hindrance  to  their  belief 
of  the  resurrection,  and  to  their  understanding  of  his  spiritual  char- 
acter and  work,  in  the  carnal  condition  in  which  they  still  remained  .'' 
They  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  said  Mary,  because  she  found  not 
the  body.  And  could  they  have  been  readily  convicted  of  idolatry, 
or  any  wrong  procedure;  in  offerin'g  adoration  to  their  Lord  .?  while 
all  the  time  their  sense  would  have  been  cleaving  to  the  flesh,  to  the 
neglect  of  the  Spirit.  Neither  is  it  probable,  that  they  could  have 
been  readily  convinced,  or  easily  satisfied,  with  respect  to  his  resur- 
rection, or  his  being  actually  alive,  his  ascension  and  glorification,  and 
other  things  pertaining  to  his  work  and  kingdom,  while  they  could, 
at  any  time,  by  going  there,  have  seen  him  to  their  sense,  dead  in  the 
tomb.  Besides  ;  how  much  more  difficulty  must  have  attended  the 
ministry  of  the  disciples,  after  they  had  come  to  believe,  to  convince 
others,  who  either  had  no  faith  in  the  resurrection  at  all,  or  had  car- 
nal and  natural  views  of  it,  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead  and  was 
actually  alive,  while  his  body  could  at  any  time  have  been  seen,  or 
had  it  been  commonly  known  how  it  was  removed  }  The  report, 
common  among  the  Jews,  that  his  disciples  had  come  and  stolen  him 
away  by  night,  while  the  soldiers  were  asleep,  was  fabricated  to  pre- 
vent the  people  from  believing,  and  what  plausibility  would  have 
been  attached  to  that  fabrication,  could  the  body  have  been  found  ? 
From  every  consideration  therefore  it  was  necessary  that  the  body 


OP    THE    RESURRECTION.  343 

stould  bg  removed,  as  it  was,  out  of  the  reach  or  knowledge  of  any  of 
them. 

Upon  the  whole  ;  from  a  consideration  of  the  real  character  and 
condition  of  the  disciples — the  literal  and  carnal  sense  of  things 
which  they  had  by  nature,  and  according  to  the  carnal  dispensation  to 
which  they  had  been  accustomed — their  slowness  of  heart  to  believe 
on  the  plainest  testimony — it  appears  to  have  been  necessary  to  repre- 
sent to  them  the  work  of  God  in  the  resurrection  and  ascension  of 
Christ,  in  such  a  dress  as  that  they  could  at  least  apprehend  it,  and  be 
convinced  of  its  truth  in  the  sense  and  understanding  of  things,  in 
which  they  then  were  ;  while  in  the  mean  time  every  possible  hindrance 
was  taken  out  of  the  way,  that,  being  confirmed  in  the  truth  of  facts 
which  had  actually  come  to  pass,  they  might  the  more  easily  be  led 
into  a  better  understanding  of  their  true  nature,  after  they  became 
more  fully  able  to  receive  correct  information  ;  which  was  after  they 
had  received  the  Holy  Spirit.  "  I  have  yet  many  things,"  said  Jesus, 
"  to  say  to  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now.  Howbeit,  when  he, 
the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth — He  shall 
glorify  me  :  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  unto  you." 
(Jno.  xvi.  12,  13,  14.) 

The  removal  of  that  material  body  required  that  the  stone  should 
be  rolled  away  from  the  mouth  of  the  sepulchre,  because  material  sub- 
stance requires  space  to  move  in,  free  from  other  obstructing  materials. 
But  what  was  to  hinder  the  soul  of  Jesus,  replete  with  the  resurrec- 
tion power  of  God,  to  enter  the  grave,  reanimate  the  body,  and  bring 
it  foi'th,  a  spiritual  body,  without  removing  the  stone,  or  even  crack- 
ing the  seal,  any  more  than  to  enter  the  house  where  the  disciples 
were,  the  doors  being  shut .'' 

Thus  far  of  the  resurrection,  as  it  immediately  relates  to  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ.  And  herein  I  have  taken  notice  of  the  principal  and 
most  prominent  passages,  as  being  most  calculated  to  comprehend  the 
whole  and  bring  them  all  into  full  examination,  which  are  pleaded  in 
favour  of  the  resurrection  of  the  same  material  body,  and  have  found 
none  but  what  are  capable  of  a  consistent  and  sufficiently  free  accep- 
tation without  including  the  belief  of  that  fact.  That  point  therefore 
of  the  literal  resurrection  of  the  same  animal  body  remains  unestab- 
lished  ;  untaught  in  explicit  language  of  the  Scriptures,  unproved 
by  fair  and  necessary  inference.  But  in  the  mean  time  it  is  proved 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  capable  of  existing  and  being  the  same  Jesus 
Christ,  without  inhabiting  that  same  body  ;  consequently  the  resur- 
rection and  reanimation  of  that  body  is  not  the  point  in  which  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  consists,  as  commonly  insisted  ;  there- 
fore to  deny  the  resurrection,  reanimation  and  ascension  of  that  ma- 
terial body,  is  not  the  same  as  to  deny  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
altogether,  seeing  that  the  resurrection  can  exist  in  fact,  according  to 
the  Scriptures,  without  the  aid  of  that  body:  he  was  quickened  in  the 
Spirit. 

In  perusing  these  sheets,  it  may  frequently  be  suggested  to  those 
of  a  different  sentiment,  that  it  is  uncandid  to  labour  proposedly  after 
a  method  of  understanding  these  Scriptures  and  all  others,  so  as  to 
exclude  the  faith  of  the  resurrection  of  the  animal  body.  But  a 
method  of  arguing  which  is  open  and  above  board  is  not  uncandid. 


344  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

I  proposed  in  tlie  beginning  of  this  branch,  of  the  subject  to  show  that 
all  these  Scriptures  could  be  understood  consistently  without  imply- 
ing that  fact ;  and  it  is  not  an  unfair  method  of  arguing,  to  show  that 
any  fact  is  not  established  by  the  arguments  advanced  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  particularly  with  respect  to  the  subject  now  under  consider- 
ation, or  others  of  the  same  nature  ;  it  does  not  so  properly  belong  to 
us  who  disbelieve  the  reslirrection  of  the  animal  body,  to  prove  it  did 
not  rise  ;  what  belongs  to  us,  is  the  negative  part ;  and  that  can- 
not require  proof,  according  to  any  philosophical  or  logical  method 
of  reasoning.  But  to  those  who  believe  the  resurrection  of  that  body, 
and  consider  it  an  essential  part  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, 
it  belongs  to  establish  it  in  the  af&rmative,  by  unquestionable  testi- 
mony ;  while  it  is  not  disingenuous  in  us  to  analyze  every  argument 
with  the  strictest  scrutiny,  and  to  invalidate,  as  far  as  honesty,  truth 
and  reason  will  admit. 

I  have  hitherto  kept  up  the  idea  of  the  resurrection  and  the  ascen- 
sion as  being  so  closely  connected  together,  that  that  which  arose 
must  also  have  ascended,  and  that  which  ascended  must  also  have 
arisen.  This  idea  needs  no  farther  proof,  being  evident  from  the 
most  simple  view  of  the  subject.  But  that  the  material  body  was  not 
that  which  ascended,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  (at  least  that  it  is  not 
necessarily  included,  the  point  now  under  consideration,)  is  fairly  ar- 
gued from  this,  that  that  which  ascended  was  the  same  which  descend- 
ed first  from  heaven.  "  He  that  descended  is  the  same  also  that 
ascended."  (Eph.  iv.  10.)  Now  the  animal  body  was  not  that 
which  descended,  being  produced  of  the  substance  of  Mary's  body, 
and  brought  forth  like  those  of  other  men.  Add  to  this,  that  the 
apostle  has  explicitly  marked  the  difference  between  his  dying  and 
rising,  applying  the  first  to  the  flesh,  "  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,"  and 
the  second  to  the  Spirit,  "but  quickened  in  the  Spirit."  It  is  ob- 
servable that  he  is  never  said  to  be  quickened  in  the  flesh,  or  his 
flesh  to  be  alive  :  It  is  already  proved  that  the  man  could  be  alive 
without  it. 

I  take  the  liberty  to  appeal  to  the  learned  for  the  consistency  and 
correctness  of  the  translation  which  I  have  preferred  in  the  text  last 
quoted,  while  I  ask  if  any  reason  can  be  proffered  for  rendering  the 
one  phrase  in  the  flesh,  and  the  other  by  the  Spirit,  when  the  gram- 
matical construction  and  government  of  both  are  precisely  the  same  ? 
Add  to  this,  that  the  similar  expression,  a  few  lines  after,  which  re- 
lates to  the  above  as  a  kind  of  recapitulation,  is  in  the  same  gram- 
matical construction  and  government,  and  is  necessarily  rendered  in 
the  flesh.  "  Forasmuch  then  as  Christ  hath  sufi'ered  for  us  in  the 
flesh."     (1  Pet.  iii.  18,  and  iv.  1.) 

The  following  propositions  appear  necessary  to  be  believed  by  the 
abettors  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  same  material  body, 
before  their  plan  can  be  complete.  First :  That  the  body  of  Jesus 
was  raised  a  spiritual  body  ;  consequently  it  was  a  spiritual  body  on 
that  evening  when  he  appeared  to  the  disciples  in  the  house,  the 
doors  being  shut.  For  they  insist  (not  improperly)  that  his  resur- 
rection is  a  true  example  and  earnest  of  that  of  his  followers,  and 
also,  that  their  body  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  It  is  sown  a  natural 
body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.     Secondly :  That  when  he  appear- 


OF   THE   RESURRECTION.  345 

ed  on  that  same  evening,  and  at  tlie  same  instant  of  time,  that  same 
body  of  his  was  a  material  body,  a  proper  body  of  flesh  and  bones, 
such  as  a  spirit  hath  not.  "  Handle  me,  and  see,  for  a  spirit  hath  not 
flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me  have,"  is  to  them  an  unequivocal  argu- 
ment that  he  took  with  him  the  same  body  of  flesh  and  bones.  There- 
fore, thirdly  :  That  the  same  body  was  a  spiritual  body,  and  a  proper 
material  body  of  flesh  and  bones  at  one  and  the  same  time.  The 
necessity  of  believing  these  propositions  in  support  of  that  plan,  their 
glaring  inconsistency,  notwithstanding,  is  sufl6.cient  to  convince  the 
abettors  of  it,  if  they  would  be  reasonable,  not  only  that  these,  and 
the  tantamount  phrases  in  the  Scriptures,  are  susceptible  of  a  differ- 
ent acceptation  from  that  in  which  they  receive  them,  but  that  a  more 
consistent  one  is  indispensably  necessary  to  the  support  of  truth. 
They  may  however  argue,  that  it  is  urging  the  matter  too  far,  to 
charge  them  with  calling  it  a  proper  material  body,  that  the  sense 
and  meaning  of  their  language  is  not  to  that  extent.  But  it  must  be 
either  matter  or  spirit,  material  or  immaterial ; — let  them  tell  us  de- 
cisively which  they  mean. 


CHAPTER     III. 

THE     RESURRECTION,    WITH     MORE     IMMEDIATE     RELATION     TO    THE 

SAINTS. 

I  PROCEED,  in  the  next  place,  to  carry  the  examination  to  the  resur- 
rection of  the  saints,  and  therein  to  show.  That  there  is  no  language 
used  in  the  Scripture  to  prove  or  explain  the  resurrection  of  Christ's 
people,  but  what  is  capable  of  an  easy  and  consistent  acceptation, 
without  including  the  resurrection  of  the  animal  body,  as  being  the 
proper  subject  of  the  resurrection,  or  constituting  any  necessary  part 
of  it. 

I  have  hitherto  treated  of  this  subject,  with  particular  relation  to 
the  person  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  as  it  is  pleaded  and  granted,  that  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  is  a  true  earnest  and  example  of  that  of  his 
people,  the  certainty  of  the  latter  depending  on  the  certainty  of  the 
former,  and  the  nature  and  manner  of  the  one  serving  to  elucidate 
the  nature  and  manner  of  the  other  alternately,  the  subject  becomes 
essentially  one,  according  to  the  Scriptures.  We  may  therefore  with 
propriety  proceed  to  examine  the  language  of  the  Scriptures  relating 
to  the  resurrection  of  the  saints,  to  see  if  it  cannot  be  understood  con- 
sistently, without  including  the  resurrection  of  the  animal  body. 

I  have  spoken  of  said  body,  as  not  being  the  proper  subject  of  the 
true  resurrection,  neither  participating  in  it.  My  reason  for  such 
communications  is,  that  I  would  have  the  understanding  and  sense  of 
the  people  fixed  on  the  abiding  substance,  and  not  confined  to  the 
shadovfcT.     Not  doubting  but  there  have  been  resurrections  of  animal 


346  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

bodies,  of  men  who  were  under  an  indispensable  necessity  of  expe- 
riencing a  resurrection  entirely  distinct,  before  they  could  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  :  as  the  widow's  son  and  Lazarus.  Neither 
would  it  materially  aflFect  the  subject  in  hand,  were  it  admitted  that 
Jesus  assumed  the  same  body  for  a  time,  and  used  it  as  occasion  required, 
as  a  medium  of  access  to  his  disciples,  for  their  conviction  and  infor- 
mation. But  the  true  resurrection  of  which  the  apostles  spake,  and  to 
which  they  looked  for  substance,  was  quite  another  thing;  as  will  be 
shown  in  its  place. 

It  has  been  already  stated,  that  there  is  no  principle  in  nature,  or  in 
the  most  profound  philosophy,  neither  any  doctrine  in  the  revelation  of 
God  to  men,  to  prove  that  matter  is  converted  into  spirit,  or  mate- 
rial physical  bodies  into  spiritual.  And  to  these  things  agree  the  words 
of  a  late  writer ;  "  As  no  possible  combination  of  the  elementary  parts 
of  matter,  however  diversified  and  extended,  can  produce  a  result 
which  is  hnmalerial^  or  which  is  destitute  of  the  properties  and  quali- 
ties of  matter  ;  so  no  reduction  of  compound  bodies  can  be  carried  be- 
yond the  elementary  forms  out  of  which,  or  by  which,  they  were  pro- 
duced."    (See  Philos.  Human  Mind,  p.  18.) 

Unwilling,  however,  to  cede  their  pretensions  to  a  favourite  plan  sup- 
ported by  tradition,  prepossession  and  the  allurements  of  the  flesh,  the 
abettors  insist,  that  God  has  actually  taught  by  revelation,  that  the  ma- 
terial body  is  converted,  by  the  power  of  Christ,  into  a  spiritual  body,  so 
far,  at  least,  as  to  be  the  proper  subject  of  the  resurrection.  In  defence 
therefore  of  the  favourite  plan,  the  words  of  Paul  to  the  Philippians  are 
introduced ;  (iii.  20,  21.)  "  For  our  conversation  [in  the  Greek,  citizen- 
ship] is  in  heaven,  from  whence  also  we  look  for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord 
Jesus  ;  who  shall  change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like 
unto  his  glorious  body,  according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able 
even  to  subdue  all  things  to  himself."  According  to  the  common  use 
and  meaning  of  words,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  understanding  this  pas- 
sage, without  any  relation  to  the  resurrection,  or  reanimation  of  the 
material  body,  or  any  conversion  of  the  natural  into  the  spiritual.  The 
ordinary  and  natural  use  of  the  active  verb,  to  change^  is  properly  to  put 
away  one  and  receive  another.  Accordingly  a  man  is  said  to  change 
his  garment,  Vv'hen  he  puts  off  one  and  puts  on  another ;  and  to  get  his 
money  changed,  when  he  gives  to  some  other  man  a  large  piece,  and 
receives  small  to  answer  his  purpose,  or  gives  paper  money  and  re- 
ceives silver ;  or  the  contrary.  But  a  man  will  hardly  conclude  he 
has  got  his  money  changed  by  having  it  taken  away  for  a  time  and 
given  back  again.  So  to  put  off  the  body  and  put  on  the  same,  is  no 
change.  That  is  not  therefore  the  work  which  Christ  has  to  do  at  his 
coming,  but  to  finish  the  redemption  of  his  people,  delivering  them  com- 
pletely and  finally  from  the  old  man.,  clothing  them  in  the  new,  fash- 
ioning them  like  himself,  according  to  the  working  [ivs'pysiav,  energy, 
or  inward  working]  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subdue  all  things  to 
himself. 

With  respect  to  the  demonstrative,  it,  commonly  understood  to  mean 
the  same  as  the  noun  to  which  it  points,  (on  which  account  it  would 
be  argued,  that  this  language,  Who  shall  change  our  vile  body,  that  it 
may  be  fashioned  like  his  glorious  body,  means  the  refitting  of  our  same 
animal  body  for  the  inheritance  of  eternal  life,)  it  has  been  already 


OP   THE    RESURRECTION.  347 

shown  and  exemplified  that  such  phraseology  is  used  when  identity  or 
sameness  is  not  intended.  It  is  also  to  be  considered,  that  the  term, 
hody^  does  not  always  mean  the  animal  body,  or  carcase,  separately 
from  the  spirit,  but  the  man,  or  person,  as  intimated  in  the  begin- 
ning. Thus  a  certain  Greek  author  speaks  of  wicked  bodies.  And  the 
same  use  of  the  word  is  quite  common  in  our  day.  Thus  it  is  often 
said,  I  see  some  body  coming,  some  body  told  me,  I  want  some  body 
to  do  a  piece  of  work,  there  was  no  body  there,  and  a  thousand  other 
instances,  in  all  which  the  undeniable  meaning  of  the  term  body  is  man^ 
or  person. 

Some  may  suppose  that  an  argument  advantageous  to  the  favourite 
plan,  may  be  had  by  critical  attention  to  the  Greek  text.  And  it  must  not 
be  denied  that  a  literal  translation  of  the  text  might  be  considered  more 
favourable,  at  least  in  the  word  translated,  change;  Thus,  "Who 
shall  transform  the  body  of  our  humiliation  [or  humble  body]  that  it 
may  be  conformed  to  the  body  of  his  glory,  [or  glorious  body,]  accord- 
ing to  the  energy  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subdue  all  things  to  him- 
self." But  when  we  consider  the  use  of  the  term,  hody^  as  already 
stated,  with  the  other  remarks  on  this  text,  pertaining  to  the  nature  of  its 
language,  as  also  that  the  energy  or  power  by  which  the  body  is  to  be 
transformed  and  fashioned  like  his  glorious  bod}',  is  an  inward  working, 
we  shall  find  nothing  in  this  text  sufficient  to  establish  the  resurrection,  re- 
animation  and  glorification  of  the  same  material  body.  For,  to  trans- 
form our  humble  body  cannot  necessarily  imply  any  thing  different  from 
transforming  our  humble  person,  by  removing  finally  all  the  evil  and 
useless  incumbrances  and  increasing  the  true  and  valuable  substance, by 
the  working  of  his  spirit.     Besides, 

It  is  farther  to  be  considered,  that  the  term,  body^  may  very  properly 
be  understood  of  the  Church  collectively,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the 
words  of  the  Apostle  in  another  place,  (Rom.  viii.  23  :)  "  Waiting  for 
the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body,"  and  is  with  propri- 
priety  called  our  body,  as  being  that  body  of  which  we  (Christians)  are 
all  members.  This  view  of  the  subject  properly  comports  with  the 
body's  being  called  our  humble  body,  or  the  body  of  our  humiliation,  ex- 
pressing the  oppressed  and  afflicted  state  of  the  body,  or  Church,  from 
which  it  will  be  entirelyredeemedin  the  progress  of  the  work  of  Christ 
at  his  coming,  and  translated  into  that  which  is  perfect  and  glorious. 
His  work  is  before  him,  and  his  reward  is  with  him.  There  is  neither 
absurdity  nor  contradiction  in  expounding  these  and  many  other  Scrip- 
tures with  the  latitude  here  allowed,  notwithstanding  the  fabricated 
maxim  among  systematics  :  That  the  meaning  of  Scripture  is  not  va-^ 
rious  but  single ;  a  sentiment  from  which  all  denominations,  justly  as 
well  as  necessarily,  deviate  in  practice,  it  being  as  groundless  as  whim- 
sical. Variety  is  not  tantamount  with  contradiction  ;  but  it  is  necessary 
to  teach  and  to  expound  according  to  [dvaXoyiav]  the  analogy  of  the 
faith  of  Christ.  (Rom.  xii.  6.) 

The  account  given  by  Matthew  (xxvii.  52)  of  the  bodies  raised  at 
the  crucifixion,  is  alleged,  by  some,  in  favour  of  the  notion  of  the  gene- 
ral resurrection  of  the  material  bodies  of  all  men.  A  free  consideration 
however  of  the  relation  there  given,  and  the  attending  circumstances, 
will  fully  evince  that  it  affords  no  proof  of  such  a  fact.  For  admitting 
the  fact  there  stated  to  be  the  proper  resurrection  to  life  of  corpses 


348  OF   THE    RESURRECTION. 

which  had  been  hurled  in  those  graves,  the  simple  existence  of  the 
fact  is  no  proof  of  the  general  resurrection  of  all  dead  bodies,  or  corpses, 
any  more  than  the  resurrection  of  the  body  of  Lazarus  or  the  wid- 
ow's son,  although  both  these  had  to  die  again,  and  also  to  experience 
a  very  different  resurrection,  or  never  inherit  with  Christ.  But  fur- 
ther : 

The  design  of  the  historian  seems  to  have  been,  to  give  a  statement 
of  the  signs  which  appeared  when  Jesus  expired.  It  is  not  therefore 
probable  that  the  narrative  relates  to  companies  of  invisible  spirits  only, 
or  to  many  spiritual  bodies,  for  the  centurion  and  others  around  could 
not  have  seen  them  ;  of  course  they  could  not  have  been  signs  to  them. 
What  is  said  of  the  spirits  of  those  saints,  or  in  other  words,  of  those 
saints  in  their  true  order,  took  place  afterwards,  that  is,  after  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ.  Neither  can  that  resurrection  of  bodies,  which  took 
place  when  Jesus  expired,  be  considered  as  the  first-fruits  of  his  resur- 
rection, and  thus  be  proffered  as  an  example  and  proof  of  the  general 
resurrection  of  bodies,  for  two  reasons.  First.  That  view  of  the  sub- 
ject supposes  these  saints  to  have  the  pre-eminence  over  Christ,  in  that 
very  particular  in  which  he  is  specially  said  to  have  it ;  "  Who  is  the 
beginning,  the  first-born  from  the  dead  ;  that  in  all  things  he  might 
have  the  pre-eminence."  "  Christ  the  first-fruits. "  (Col.  i.  18;  1  Cor. 
XV.  23.)  Secondly.  The  time  had  not  yet  arrived  for  the  fruits  of 
his  resurrection,  even  the  first-fruits  to  appear.  "  Christ  the  first- 
fruits  ;  [observe,  he  is  foremost ;]  afterwards  they  that  are  Christ's  at 
his  coming."  The  apostles,  not  excluding  other  Christians  of  their 
day,  were,  according  to  their  own  testimony,  a  kind  of  first-fruits.  But 
the  first-fruits  to  God  and  to  the  Lamb,  or  the  first  resurrection,  was  to 
appear  long  afterwards,  as  shown  to  John  in  the  revelations  made  to 
him. 

The  true  state  of  the  facts  related  by  Matthew  appears  to  be  this : 
That  when  Jesus  expired,  there  was  such  a  miraculous  and  extraordi- 
nary commotion  in  all  nature,  by  the  special  providence  of  God,  that 
the  vail  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  ; 
this  was  a  fact  visible  to  all ;  and  the  earth  did  quake  and  the  rocks 
rent ;  these  facts  were  also  visible  to  all ;  and  the  graves  were  opened  ; 
this  also  was  visible  ;  and  many  bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept  arose  ; 
that  is,  were  thrown  out  by  the  commotions  in  the  earth.  These  bodies 
were  also  visible,  being  kept,  at  least  some  of  them  measurably  in  form, 
by  means  of  the  embalming  which  was  practised  by  the  Jews.  Thus 
far  the  narrative  may  be  considered  as  relating  to  the  things  which  were 
visible  ;  and  here  is  a  period  to  the  relation  of  the  signs  which  appeared 
at  that  time. 

What  is  written  immediately  after  is  separated  from  those  visible 
facts  by  two  particulars,  in  the  Greek  text,  according  to  the  proper  or- 
der of  language.  First,  A  full  period  denoting  the  end  of  a  sentence  ; 
and  Secondly,  The  disagreement  of  the  parts  of  speech  describing  the 
two  facts,  the  one  of  which  was  visible  to  the  merely  physical  man, 
the  other  not.  The  first  of  these  particulars  depending  on  the  position 
of  a  single  point,  is  liable  to  be  varied  ;  but  the  other,  depending  on 
correct  orthography  and  due  grammatical  construction,  is  free  from  that 
liableness,  and  is  also  a  strong  reason  for  the  correctness  of  the  first. 
The  Greek  word  translated,  came,  is  not  a  verb,  as  it  is  made  to  be  in 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  349 

the  English^  but  a  participle,  and  so  constructed  as  by  no  means  to 
agree  with  the  word  translated,  bodies,  according  to  the  construction  of 
that  language,  but  agrees  correctly  with  the  term,  saints.  Besides,  as  be- 
fore observed,  the  sentence  closes  with  the  word,  arose,  and  a  different 
subject  is  touched  on  in  few  words,  relating  to  that  which  was  not  visi- 
ble to  all.  This  will  be  still  farther  manifest  by  the  following  conside- 
rations : 

First.  It  is  not  a  reasonable  supposition  that  these  dead  bodies  of  the 
sleeping  saints  were  reanimated  by  the  return  of  their  spirits  to  them, 
in  the  power  of  Christ  as  their  life,  at  the  time  when  Jesus  expired, 
and  yet  remained  among  the  tombs  until  after  his  resurrection  from  the 
sixth  day  in  the  evening  until  the  first  day  in  the  morning.  To  which 
we  may  add,  that  had  this  been  the  case,  they  must  have  been  seen  by 
many  Jews  and  Romans  without  going  into  the  holy  city.  But  second- 
ly. It  is  stated  that  the  bodies  arose  at  the  time  when  Jesus  expired, 
and  that  they  who  went  into  the  holy  city,  whatever  they  were,  came 
out  of  the  graves  after  his  resurrection.  This  would  imply  that  these 
saints  were  confined,  or  to  use  the  easiest  terms,  remained  in  the  tombs, 
until  the  third  day  after  their  bodies  arose.  To  such  absurdities  the 
notion  of  the  resurrection  of  dead  bodies  necessarily  leads.  But  no 
difficulty  attends  the  plan  here  stated,  That  the  bodies  of  the  sleeping 
saints  were  raised,  or  thrown  out,  by  the  quaking  of  the  earth,  by  which 
the  rocks  were  also  rent ;  but  the  saints,  undisturbed  by  the  commo- 
tions of  material  nature,  remained  at  rest,  until  after  the  resurrection, 
when  in  their  proper  order,  Christ  having  gone  before  as  their  proper 
head  and  forerunner,  they  arose,  or  awoke,  and  coming  forth,  went  into 
the  holy  city,  (not  bloody  Jerusalem,)  and  appeared  to  such  as  had 
eyes  to  see  them.  "  And  the  graves  were  opened ;  and  many  bodies 
of  the  saints  who  had  slept  were  raised.  And  (these  saints)  having 
come  out  of  the  graves,  (residence  of  the  dead,)  after  his  resurrection, 
went  into  the  holy  city,  and  were  manifested  to  many." 

One  passage  out  of  the  book  of  Job  seems  proper  to  be  noticed, 
before  this  part  of  the  subject  be  closed,  because  urged  by  some 
with  a  degree  of  confidence.  The  words  are  these,  (xix.  26,)  "  And 
though  after  my  skin,  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh 
shall  I  see  God."  These  words  indicate  the  firm  confidence  which 
Job  had  in  God,  that  he  would  yet  deliver  him  out  of  all  his  trou- 
bles, and  appear  on  the  earth  as  his  redeemer,  and  that  his  eyes 
should  see  him  while  yet  in  the  flesh.  All  which  came  to  pass  ac- 
cording to  his  faith  and  expectation,  (xlii.  5.)  "I  have  heard  of  thee 
(said  he)  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear;  but  now  mine  eyes  see  thee." 
And  in  the  event  Job  was  delivered,  after  the  Lord  appeared  to  him, 
and  he  ended  his  days  in  peace  and  prosperity.  But  all  this  proves 
nothing  towards  the  resurrection  of  the  body  of  flesh  and  bones,  after 
it  is  actually  dead.  To  say  that,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God 
means,  I  shall  see  him  in  my  flesh  at  the  final  resurrection  of  the 
just,  contradicts  the  grand  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  so  confidently 
nrged,  that  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body  :  now  flesh  is  not  spirit. 
These  remarks  are  made  on  the  common  translation. 

But  the  marginal  translation,  which  is  often  much  the  best,  gives 
quite  a  different  and  more  noble  view  of  the  subject,  and  properly 
accords  with  the  faith  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in  his  second  appear- 


350  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

ing.  In  their  connection  the  words  stand  tlnis :  "  For  I  know  tliat 
my  redeemer  livetli,  and  that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the 
earth  :  After  I  shall  awake,  though  this  body  be  destroyed,  yet  out 
of  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God :  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  not 
another  ;  though  my  reins  be  consumed  within  me."  These  words, 
whether  Job  understood  them  or  not,  being  the  words  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  show  in  bold  terms  the  important  change  which  should  take 
place  in  the  latter  day,  when  the  redeemer  should  stand  on  the  earth, 
to  accomplish  his  work  of  redemption,  from  a  natural  and  fleshly  state 
into  that  which  is  all  spiritual.  When  I  awake  from  my  long  sleep, 
after  all  these  su.fierings  and  troubles  are  over,  although  this  body  be 
then  destroyed,  and  I  see  it  no  more,  I  shall  then  be  in  comfort,  for 
yet  out  of  my  flesh  I  shall  see  God.  Let  this  Scripture,  therefore,  be 
received  as  it  stands  in  the  common  reading  in  the  text,  or  in  the 
margin,  it  affords  no  proof  of  the  resurrection  of  the  material  body. 
But  although  there  is  nothing  false  or  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of 
revelation  in  either  of.  the  two  translations,  a  more  correct  and  liter- 
ally unexceptionable  one  is  that  which  I  shall  here  give,  after  remark- 
ing that  the  words  after  my  skin^  are  the  best  confirmed  reading  in  the 
Hebrew  copies  which  use  the  points,  and  perfectly  consistent  with  the 
omission  of  them.  But  the  phrase,  in  my  fleshy  is  contrary  to  the  He- 
brew text  in  every  form  ;  as  the  proper  use  or  signification  of  the 
particle  there  rendered,  in,  is  out  of,  from,  by,  and  the  like.  The 
correct  translation  therefore  is,  "  And  though  after  my  skin  (worms) 
devour  this  body,  yet  out  of  my  flesh  I  shall  see  God  ;"  when  I  am  in 
my  spiritual  state,  having  got  free  from  this  burdensome  and  aflBlicting 
condition. 

I  have  now  taken  a  plain  and  particular  view  of  most,  if  not  all,  of 
those  Scriptures  which  I  have  found  to  be  alleged  in  favour  of  the 
resurrection,  reanimation  and  glorification  of  the  animal  body,  ex- 
cept those  which  will  more  naturally  be  presented  to  view  in  consid- 
ering those  branches  of  the  subject  which  are  yet  to  come.  And  iu 
all  these  which  have  been  noticed,  I  have  shown  that  they,  and  all 
such,  should  there  be  any  remaining,  can  be  understood  in  a  suffi- 
ciently natural  meaning,  without  doing  violence  to  the  common  and 
free  use  of  language,  and  yet  by  no  means  prove  the  resurrection  of 
the  material  body,  or  any  change  of  it  from  matter  to  spirit. 

This  negative  part  claimed  the  priority  in  the  discussion,  for  two 
reasons.  First :  Because  in  establishing  any  point  by  evidence,  posi- 
tive proof  is  not  required  on  the  negative  side,  but  on  the  affirmative. 
It  does  not  therefore  belong  to  those  who  deny  the  resurrection  of  the 
animal  body  to  prove  by  positive  evidence  that  it  will  not  rise,  but  to 
the  advocates  of  that  scheme,  that  it  will ;  therefore  to  obviate  all 
their  arguments,  goes  a  great  length,  not  to  say  the  whole,  towards 
bringing  the  subject  to  a  decision.  And  secondly:  After  the  argu- 
ments in  favour  of  the  resurrection  of  the  animal  body  are  removed, 
those  testimonies  which  show,  positively,  what  the  resurrection  is,  and 
that  the  animal  body  has  no  part  in  it,  will  be  introduced  with  better 
efficacy  and  more  lasting  impression. 

Some  may  object,  and  those  too  of  serious  minds,  that  to  spend  so 
much  labour  to  show  that  the  foregoing  and  other  such  Scriptures 
may  be  understood,  without  including  the  resurrection  of  the  animal 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  351 

body,  is  dishonest  and  uncliristian,  and  carries  the  appearance  of 
willfully  binding  and  misleading  the  people.  This  objection  has  been 
sufficiently  obviated  already  ;  and  I  presume  it  will  not  be  made  by 
any  candid  persons  who  understand  the  nature  of  reasoning  and  know 
the  use  of  a  negative  part. 

Should  it  be  objected  farther,  that  it  is  needless  to  be  at  the  ex- 
pense of  such  laboured  arguments  and  replies,  to  disprove  the  resur- 
rection of  the  animal  body ;  for  if  the  people  can  be  brought  to 
believe  in  Christ  and  to  follow  hinj  in  the  regeneration,  all  will  be 
well  in  the  end ;  for  should  the  same  body  be  raised,  it  will  be  so 
modified  that  it  will  be  no  real  incumbrance  or  other  injury,  and 
should  it  not  rise  God  will  so  order  matters,  that  no  loss  will  be  sus- 
tained for  the  want  of  it.  This  may  be  considered  plausible  reason- 
ing. Would  the  people  be  wise  enough  for  their  own  good,  to  follow 
Christ  in  the  regeneration  bearing  their  daily  cross,  we  would  not  be 
desirous  of  contending  with  them  about  this  or  any  other  subject  out 
of  their  sight,  but  rather  let  them  obtain  a  correct  knowledge  of  the 
work  of  God  by  a  faithful  travel,  walking  in  the  obedience  of  Christ ; 
"  If  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  (Jno. 
vii.  17.) 

But  herein  is  discovered  the  craft  of  the  spirit  of  wickedness  which 
rules  in  carnal  men,  professors  and  profane.  While  the  grand  mat- 
ters essentially  pertaining  to  the  work  of  regeneration  and  following 
Christ  therein,  as  the  self-denial  and  the  cross  which  he  requires  all 
to  bear,  who  follow  him  or  would  partake  with  him,  are  alleged  to 
belong  to  those  only  who  are  actual  partakers  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  just,  it  is  no  small  lp,bour  to  convince  those  who  believe  in  the  re- 
surrection of  the  animal  body  of  the  necessity  of  bearing  such  cross 
and  of  partaking  such  self-denial,  while  that  resurrection  does  not 
appear,  or  as  long  as  they  can  maintain  any  hope  of  salvation  however 
flimsy,  supported  by  the  prospect  of  any  thing  yet  to  come  :  natural 
men  do  not  love  the  self-denial  and  the  cross  of  Christ  necessary  to 
travelling  with  him  in  the  regeneration.  These  things  however  make 
it  necessary,  that  people  should  understand  something  of  the  nature 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  which  is  the  resurrection  in  Christ,  that 
they  may  the  more  easily  be  gained  to  that  faith  and  obedience  which 
are  necessary  to  salvation.  And  it  may  not  be  unavailing  towards 
preparing  the  mind  for  the  reception  of  what  is  yet  to  come,  to  add 
here  that  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  as  they  are  raised  in  Christ,  is 
the  same  in  its  nature  as  the  regeneration  in  which  men  follow  Christ 
to  salvation  and  eternal  life.  Accordingly  they  are  used  in  the  Scrip- 
tures as  being  tantamount,  or  nearly  so. 

For  the  sake  of  better  clearing  the  way  for  what  is  yet  to  come,  I 
take  this  opportunity  to  notice  a  very  common  and  prevalent  error 
pertaining  to  the  subject  of  the  resurrection;  which  is  that  there  are 
two  resurrections  of  the  just,  or  which  they  experience — the  one  spiri- 
tual, and  the  other  natural,  or  literal — the  one  the  resurrection  of  the 
spirit  from  the  state  of  death  in  sin,  into  Christ  who  is  the  resurrection 
and  the  life,  and  the  other  the  resurrectipn,  reanimation  and  glorifica- 
tion of  the  earthly  tabernacle — the  one  the  regeneration  of  the  spirit, 
the  other  the  regeneration  of  the  body — or  according  to  some,  it  ap- 
pears that  regeneration  includes  the  resurrection  of  both  spirit  and 


352  OF    THE    RKSUERECTION. 

body,  and  is  not  complete  without  both — the  one  is  called  the  first, 
the  other  the  second  resurrection. 

That  the  Scriptures  speak  of  a  first  resurrection,  the  partakers  of 
which  are  blessed  and  holy,  and  over  whom  the  second  death  has  no 
power,  is  not  denied.  But  they  are  silent  with  respect  to  a  second 
resurrection,  especially  with  this  predication  annexed  to  it,  that  the 
subjects  of  it  are  blessed  and  holy,  and  free  from  the  second  death ; 
no  mention  is  made,  any  where  in  the  Scriptures,  that  they  are  blessed 
and  holy  who  have  part  in  the  second  resurrection.  It  is  therefore 
most  rational  and  correct  to  understand  the  first  resurrection  as  be- 
longing to  the  just,  who  are  blessed  and  holy,  and  the  second  (when 
we  use  the  term  at  all :  it  is  not  in  the  Scriptures)  as  pertaining  to 
the  wicked.  For  there  shall  be  a  resurrection,  both  of  the  just,  and 
also  of  the  unjust ;  for  all  must  come  forth  in  their  proper  order,  and 
fill  up  their  proper  character,  and  stand  in  their  proper  lot ;  those 
who  have  done  good,  (who  have  been  obedient  to  the  will  of  God  as 
far  as  made  known  to  them,  and  have  also  come  into  Christ  who  is  the 
resurrection  and  the  life,  of  whom  they  have  learned  to  do  good  all  the 
time,)  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  those  who  have  done  evil,  (and 
continued  so  to  do  ;  for  all  have  done  evil  more  or  less,)  to  the-resur- 
rection  of  damnation.   (Acts  xxiv.  15  ;  Jno.  v.  21-29.) 

A  second  implies  a  first ;  but  a  first  does  not  necessarily  imply  a 
second  ;  at  least  of  the  same  kind,  and  pertaining  to  the  same  order 
of  things.  Two  cannot  be  without  one,  but  one  may  be  without  two, 
and  that  one  is  the  first.  The  second  death  therefore  necessarily  pre- 
supposes a  first ;  but  the  first  resurrection  for  those  who  are  blessed 
and  holy,  no  more  implies  a  second  for  the  same  characters,  than 
Jesus'  being  called  the  first  begotten,  implies  that  God  has  a  second 
begotten,  according  to  the  same  extraordinary  generation :  here  the 
first  begotten  is  also  the  only  begotten.  (Jno.  i.  18  ;  Heb.  i.  6.)  Be- 
sides ;  that  which  is,  by  the  Spirit  of  inspiration,  called  the  first  resur- 
rection, fills  the  place  and  time  commonly  assigned  to  the  second,  even 
the  day  or  time  of  judgment ;  and  in  it  the  souls  of  the  faithful  are 
spoken  of  as  being  seen,  but  not  a  word  of  any  other  bodies  being 
united  to  them,  or  in  anywise  connected  with  them  ;  thus  in  the  re- 
surrection of  the  just,  the  old  body,  or  tabernacle,  is  left  out  of  the 
question,  as  will  be  more  fully  shown  in  its  place. 


'■■''^^k 

" 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  353 


CHAPTER    IV. 

OF  SOME  SCRIPTURES  INCAPABLE  OF  A  PROPER  ACCEPTATION  ON  THE 
PRINCIPLE  OF  THEIR  RELATING  TO  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE 
ANIMAL    BODY. 

Secondly.  I  am  now  to  consider  some  of  ttose  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, whicli  cannot  be  understood  with  good  sense,  if  considered  as 
speaking  of  the  resurrection  of  the  same  material  hody.  This  short 
hranch  of  the  subject  is  nearly  allied  to  that  which  is  next  in  course; 
and  by  a  careful  perusal  and  diligent  digestion  of  what  is  here  stated, 
the  mind  will  be  profitably  prepared  for  the  reception  of  what  is  to 
come,  in  which  the  subject  of  the  true  resurrection  in  Christ  will  be 
treated  of  to  a  still  greater  extent. 

The  first  passage  to  be  introduced  here  is  the  following,  (2  Cor.  y. 
1,  2,  &c. :)  "  For  we  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle 
were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  For  in  this  we  groan,  earnestly 
desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our  house  which  is  from  heaven." 
Were  the  resurrection  of  the  same  animal  body  an  object  of  the 
Apostle's  faith  and  expectation,  no  more  favourable  opportunity 
could  have  been  asked  to  bear  his  testimony  to  the  fact,  and  to  ex- 
press his  confidence  in  it,  as  a  source  of  encouragement  against 
the  thoughts  of  its  dissolution.  But  without  the  smallest  intimation 
of  a  resurrection  or  restoration  of  the  body,  (for  so  he  terms  it  after- 
wards,) or  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle,  he  directs  the  mind  to 
quite  another  source  of  recompense  and  comfort — We  have  a  build- 
ing with  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens — 
our  house  which  is  from  heaven.  And  this  is  the  more  remarkable,  as 
this  part  of  the  Apostle's  discourse  is  a  manifest  descant  oat  what 
he  had  just  before  stated  of  the  confidence  which  he  had,  that  they 
would  all  be  raised  up  by  Jesus,  by  the  agency  of  the  one  who  had 
raised  up  the  Lord  Jesus  himself.  So  that  what  he  here  speaks  of 
receiving  after  the  dissolution  of  the  tabernacle,  is  to  be  considered 
as  the  fruit  of  Christ's  resurrection  in  its  influence  on  them,  and  its 
equivalent  in  them  ;  and  yet  nothing  is  said  of  the  resurrection,  or 
restoration  of  the  tabernacle  or  body,  (Chap,  iv,  14,  16,  17,  18  :) 
"  Knowing  that  he  who  raised  up  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  raise  up  us 
also  by  Jesus,  and  shall  present  us  with  you — For  which  cause  we 
faint  not :  but  though  our  outward  man  perish,  yet  the  inward  man  is 
renewed  day  by  day.  [The  new  continually  stipplaEting  the  old,  but 
no  account  of  the  old  being  restored.]  For  our  light  affliction,  which 
is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory;  while  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but 
at  the  things  which  are  not  seen ;  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are 
temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal.  For  we  know 
that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a 
24 


354  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

building  with  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens."  [Yea,  we  have  it  ready  at  any  time  whenever  this  is  dis- 
solved, without  waiting  for  a  restoration  of  the  old.]  "  For  in  this  we 
groan,  earnestly  desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our  house  which  is 
from  heaven  :  if  so  be  that  being  clothed  [with  our  house  from  heaven,] 
we  shall  not  be  found  naked.  [The  dissolution  of  our  earthly  house 
notwithstanding.]  For  we  who  are  in  this  tabernacle  do  groan,  being 
burthened :  not  that  we  would  be  unclothed,  [clean  dissolved,]  but 
clothed  upon,  [fixed  in  a  more  durable  and  comfortable  existence  in 
the  true  substance,]  that  mortality  might  be  swallowed  up  of  life." 
(That  new  dwelling  wherewith  we  shall  be  clothed  upon,  and  which  is 
the  true  and  eternal  life,  may  supplant  and  forever  supersede  the  old 
earthly  house,  which  is  mortality  in  the  abstract. )  "  Now  he  who  hath 
wrought  us  for  this  self-same  thing  is  God,  who  also  hath  given  to  us 
the  earnest  of  the  Spirit.  [WhUe  yet  in  the  tabernacle.]  Therefore 
we  are  always  confident,  knowing  that  whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the 
body  we  are  absent  from  the  Lord  :  (for  we  walk  by  faith  not  by  sight :) 
we  are  confident,  I  say,  and  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body, 
and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord.  Wherefore  we  labour  that,  whether 
present  or  absent,  we  may  be  accepted  of  him.  For  we  must  all  ap- 
pear before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ ;  that  every  one  may  receive 
[bear  or  carry]  the  things  done  in  [by]  his  body,  according  to  that 
which  he  hath  done,  whether  good  or  bad."  Yet  not  one  word  or  in- 
timation of  the  same  old  body  being  raised,  or  of  the  tabernacle  being 
restored,  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  or  any  where  else. 

But  the  following  is,  if  need  be,  still  more  incompatible  with  reason 
and  good  sense,  on  the  supposition  of  the  resurrection  of  the  same 
body.  (For  that  is  acknowledged  by  the  advocates  of  that  plan  to  be 
common  to  both  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  as  that  which  will  un- 
avoidably come  to  pass  in  all  who  rise  at  all.)  The  place  alluded  to 
is  in  the  epistle  to  the  Philippians,  (Chap.iii.)  where  the  Apostle 
shows  what  he  had  counted  loss  for  Christ,  and  what  labour  and  care 
he  underwent,  that,  "  If,  saith  he,  by  any  means  I  might  attain  to  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  [or  t'ov  B^avaijTa(i\v  twv  vsxpwv,  the  resurrection 
from  among  the  dead."]  Now,  upon  the  supposition  of  the  resur- 
rection of  that  body's  being  the  object  with  the  Apostle,  his  language 
is  either  improper,  or  his  great  labour  and  care  in  vain,  because  he 
was  certain  to  attain  to  it,  labour  for  it  or  not.  But  to  rise  into  the 
perfection  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  to  enter  into  that  circle  of  life  in 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  would  leave  behind  all  the  dead  and  every 
thing  pertaining  to  death  ;  thus  to  attain  to  the  resurrection  from 
among  the  dead  was  quite  another  matter :  this  being  his  object,  his 
lano-uage  is  correct,  and  his  labour  and  care  exceedingly  proper. 

And  what  farther  proves  that  he  had  no  respect  to  the  resurrection 
of  the  animal  body  is,  that  he  speaks  of  the  resurrection  as  attainable, 
at  least  to  a  good  degree,  in  the  present  tense,  and  therefore  takes  an 
occasion  to  state  that  he  had  not  attained  to  it:  which  had  been  ut- 
terly unnecessary  on  the  supposition  of  his  speaking  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  animal  body,  which  they  all  knew  had  5aot  taken  place.  "  If  by 
any  means  I  might  attain  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Not  as 
though  I  had  already  attained,  or  were  already  perfect;  but  I  follow 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  355 

after,  if  that  I  may  apprehend  that  for  which  also  I  am  apprehended 
of  Christ  Jesus.  Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to  have  apprehended  : 
but  this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind,  and 
reaching  forth  to  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the 
mark,  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  These 
words  show  farther  what  is  the  resurrection  of  which  he  speaks,  that 
for  which  he  was  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus,  which  can  be  nothing 
short  of  a  finished  resurrection,  perfection  or  final  redemption.  And 
this  is  evidently  the  object  which  he  was  labouring  to  obtain,  and  iu 
the  attainment  of  which  he  was  making  some  progress,  and  which  he 
expressed  by  the  different  names  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead  ; 
perfection,  that  for  which  he  had  been  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus, 
and  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  :  and  yet  in 
all  this  the  animal  body  has  no  part,  as  already  shown. 

Should  it  still  be  alleged  that  although  the  resurrection  of  which 
the  Apostle  here  speaks  is  granted  (which  cannot  be  denied  with  any 
plausibility)  to  be  that  which  has  no  respect  to  the  natural  body, 
yet  that  is  not  to  exclude  the  resurrection  of  that  body  at  an  after 
period.  This  allegation  is  effectually  refuted  if  we  consider,  First : 
that  the  resurrection  of  which  the  Apostle  here  speaks  is,  as  already 
stated,  the  perfection  of  that  for  which  he  was  apprehended  of 
Christ;  there  is,  therefore,  no  further  use  for  the  natural  body,  the 
work  being  perfected  without  it ;  and  therefore,  secondly,  that  the 
resurrection  is  a  gradual  or  progressive  work,  the  same  as  regene-^ 
ration,  and  not  instantaneous.  For  the  Apostle  was  evidently  in  the 
resurrection,  and  might  be  said  with  propriety,  according  to  the 
work  of  that  day,  to  be  risen  with  Christ  from  the  dead,  when  he 
forsook  his  opposition  to  Christ,  and  betook  himself  to  the  work  of 
preaching  the  Gospel,  and  to  the  labour  and  travel  of  which  he  here 
speaks,  and  yet  he  frankly  acknowledges  he  has  not  yet  attained  to 
the  thing,  or,  in  other  words,  is  not  yet  perfect.  "  But  one  thing 
(says  he)  I  do ;  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind,  and 
reaching  forth  to  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the 
mark,  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  He 
had  therefore  heard  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  obeyed  it, 
and  set  out  to  obtain  the  prize  to  which  it  directed — he  had  awaked 
and  risen  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  had  given  him  light,  and  he  was 
now  in  full  pursuit  of  the  prize,  perfect  deliverance,  or  full  redemption 
— the  fullness  of  the  resurrection  to  life  in  Christ  Jesus.  His  aim 
therefore  to  attain  to  the  resurrection  while  he  was  actually  in  it,  be- 
ing alive  in  Christ,  proves  the  resurrection  to  be  progressive,  and  the 
fullness  of  it  being  the  grand  object  at  which  the  Apostle  aimed,  cannot 
fail  to  obviate  every  argument  for  the  necessity  of  an  after  resurrection 
of  the  body. 

Farther  to  refute  the  allegation  of  a  future  resurrection  of  the  ani- 
mal body,  without  repeating  what  has  been  already  stated  of  the  incon- 
sistency of  the  Apostle's  anxiety  and  care  on  that  supposition,  I  ob- 
s'erve,  thirdly  ;  That  I  have -already  considered  the  most  forcible  and 
plausible  Scriptures  to  favour  that  plan,  known  to  me,  (if  any  are  more 
favourable,  I  am  willing  to  have  them  produced,)  and  have  not  found 
the  fact  established.  Not  to  anticipate  therefore  in  this  place  what  is 
more  properly  to  be  contained  in  the  next  general  head,  I  drop  the 


356  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

subject  here,  after  just  oTbserving,  that  it  may  be  kept  in  remembrance 
in  the  sequel,  That  what  has  been  stated  shows,  that  whenever  the 
term  resurrection  is  found  in  the  Scriptures,  as  belonging  to  the  Chris- 
tian, none  else  is  to  be  understood  but  the  resurrection  to  life  in  Christ, 
as  will  be  farther  illustrated  in  the  following  pages. 


CHAPTER   V. 


THE    RESURRECTION   THE  SAME  AS  REGENERATION  ;    AND  A  PROGRES- 
SIVE WORK. 

Thirdly.  I  now  come  to  show.  That  the  true  resurrection  promised 
in  Christ  is  the  passing  from  the  first  Adam  into  the  second.  It  has 
been  intimated,  that  the  resurrection  of  God's  people  and  the  regen- 
eration are  the  same.  That  point  will  be  proved  in  the  discussion  of 
this  head,  which  is  in  substance  the  same  position  :  not  denying  that 
regeneration  may,  with  propriety,  be  used  in  a  more  extensive  sense 
than  that  which  is  common  to  the  term  resurrection,  as  comprehend- 
ing the  final  restitution.  It  will  be  granted  on  all  hands,  that  regen- 
eration is  the  work  of  passing,  or  being  transplanted,  from  the  first 
Adam  to  the  second,  or  in  other  words,  of  becoming  the  sons  of  God 
in  Christ,  and  so  partaking  spiritual  life  in  him.  And  that  this  is  the 
amount  of  the  resurrection,  the  Scriptures  are  plain  enough.  "  For 
as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  " — "  And 
are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  children  of  the  resurrection." 
But  more  particularly. 

1st.  Resurrection  is  used  by  the  sacred  writers  instead  of  regenera- 
tion ;  or  in  other  words,  they  are  said  to  be  risen  with  Christ,  who, 
it  is  evident,  had  experienced  nothing  farther  than  being  regenerated 
into  Christ.  Thus  the  Apostle,  (Col.  iii.  1,  3,)  "  If  ye  then  be  risen 
with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth 
on  the  right  hand  of  God — For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God."  Their  being  risen  with  Christ  is,  too  evidently  to 
need  proof,  the  same  as  being  regenerated  into  Christ,  or  as  it  is 
stated  a  little  after,  having  put  ofi"  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  and 
having  put  on  the  new. 

See  also  the  words  of  Christ,  recorded  by  Luke,  as  quoted  above. 
"  And  are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  children  of  the  resurrec- 
tion." To  be  the  children  of  God  by  regeneration,  or  being  the 
children  of  the  regeneration,  would  be  quite  intelligible  language, 
very  naturally  conveying  the  idea  of  those  who  are  born  again,  or  re- 
generated into  Christ ;  because  it  is  by  regeneration,  or  being  born 
again,  that  men  become  the  children  of  God.  But  here  the  term 
resurrection  is  used  to  express  that  by  which  men  become  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  which  proves  that  the  resurrection  is  the  same  with  re- 
generation— at  least  thus  far. 


OP    THE    RESURRECTION.  357 

2d.  To  be  risen  with  Christ,  or  to  be  alive  with  him  from  the  dead, 
which  is  the  same,  is  the  proper  predicate  of  regenerate  men  ;  and 
it  is  perfectly  correct  to  apply  it  to  them  while  yet  in  the  body,  hav- 
ing never  laid  it  down,  much  less  having  reassumed  it.  This  is  evi- 
dent from  the  above  quotation,  taken  from  the  epistle  to  the  Colos- 
sians  ;  to  which  may  be  added  the  language  of  the  same  Apostle  to 
the  Romans,  whom  he  addresses  "  as  those  who  are  alive  from  the 
deadj^''  advising  them  to  consider  themselves  of  that  character  and 
to  act  becomingly  to  their  privilege. 

It  has  been  already  objected,  and  the  objection  obviated,  to  this 
amount,  that  there  are  two  resurrections  pertaining  to  the  saints,  and 
that  all  these  statements  in  the  sacred  writings,  which  represent  the 
resurrection  as  being  tantamount  with  regeneration,  relate  to  the  first, 
which  is  indeed  the  same  as  regeneration,  but  that  the  second,  or 
last,  is  the  resurrection  of  the  material  body  :  I  say  this  objection 
has  been  already  obviated.  It  may  however  be  argued,  that  the  re- 
surrection of  the  body  is  that  in  which  alone  we  can  ever  resemble 
Christ,  and  his  resurrection  be  a  proper  pledge  and  example  of  ours, 
inasmuch  as  he  committed  no  sin,  and  therefore  was  not  a  sinner,  and 
consequently  could  not  die  to  sin  and  live  to  God  as  a  proper  and 
correct  example  of  men  who  thus  die  and  rise  in  the  regeneration. 

That  Jesus  Christ  ever  committed  sin,  or  that  he  was  a  sinner,  is 
not  pretended  ;  but  that  he  stood  in  the  track  where  sinners  stood  ; 
took  on  him  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  so  that  it  is  said  he,  the  Word, 
became  flesh  ;  that  he  also  assumed  the  very  nature  of  those  who 
were  sinners,  as  it  is  written  that  Both  he  who  sanctifieth  and  they 
who  are  sanctified  are  all  of  one,  when  the  Lord  prepared  him  a 
body,  and  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all,  so  that  it  is  said  he  made 
him  to  be  sin  for  us  ;  and  that  he  was  by  that  nature  exposed  to  temp- 
tation, being  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are  ;  as  well  as  that  he 
was  made  like  unto  his  brethren  in  all  things,  are  characters  and  facts 
in  his  history  and  life,  too  prominent  ever  to  be  concealed.  And  that 
one  thing  in  which  it  became  him  to  be  made  like  his  brethren,  and 
to  be  their  proper  example,  was  that  of  his  rising,  or  living  to  God  a 
life  of  holiness,  while  he  daily  died  to  all  sin,  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
subtle  temptations,  is  taught  at  length  by  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews 
and  also  to  the  Romans  in  the  context  of  the  last  quotation  from  that 
epistle.  In  that  chapter  the  Apostle  shows,  and  correctly  illustrates 
these  points  ;  That  the  death  which  Jesus  Christ  died  was  dying  to 
sin  ;  and  that  the  life  which  he  lived,  or  the  resurrection  in  which  he 
rose,  so  that  death  could  have  no  more  dominion  over  him,  was  living 
to  God  a  life  of  holiness  ;  That  for  us  to  die  to  sin,  is  that  wherein 
we  are  planted  together  with  Christ  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  being 
the  eff"ect  of  his  death  to  us  and  its  equivalent  in  us  ;  and  that  for  us 
to  live  in  newness  of  life,  or  to  be  alive  to  God  in  holiness,  is  that 
wherein  we  shall  be  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection,  which  is  the 
eff'ect  of  his  resurrection  to  us  and  its  equivalent  in  us.  By  a  proper 
attention,  therefore,  to  that  chapter,  the  argument  in  behalf  of  a 
second  resurrection,  that  of  the  animal  body,  drawn  from  the  likeness 
of  our  resurrection  to  that  of  Jesus  Christ,  will  be  sufficiently  obviated. 
It  will  also  be  understood  more  clearly,  that  whatever  death  Jesus 
Christ  died  was  either  comprehended  in  that  of  his  dying  to  sin,  or 


358  OF    THE    RESUKRECTION. 

inflicted  on  him  by  tlie  enemy  because  he  would  die  to  sin,  or  else 
served  as  a  sign  or  representation  of  his  so  dying  ;  as  the  natural 
creation  which  he  assumed  is,  in  many  respects,  a  figure  of  the  spiritual; 
and  that  whatever  other  life,  or  resurrection,  he  experienced,  was  only 
a  sign  or  figure,  to  represent  the  true  resurrection  and  life  in  the 
Spirit,  to  those  who  were  in  the  state  of  nature,  to  lead  and  confirm 
their  minds  in  the  truth  of  future  and  spiritual  things,  until  they  should 
travel  into  an  understanding  of  them  in  their  true  order,  as  before 
taught.  Thus  the  first  Adam,  whose  fashion  Christ  assumed,  to  be 
conversant  with  his  offspring  and  for  the  suffering  of  death,  is  the 
figure  of  him  who  was  to  come. 

These  things  will  be  made  more  apparent,  while  we  consider  part 
of  that  chapter  in  discussing  the  leading  point  now  in  hand.  That  the 
true  resurrection  promised  in  Christ,  is  the  passing  from  the  first  Adam 
to  the  second — the  dying  to  sin  and  living  to  God — being  born  again, 
born  of  God,  born  of  the  Spirit,  or  regenerated  in  Christ,  and  becoming 
the  children  of  God  in  him  :  for  many  phrases  of  this  kind  are  used 
by  the  sacred  writers  to  express  one  and  the  same  thing. 

Now  that  this  regeneration,  or  passing  from  death  in  Adam  to  life 
in  Christ,  is  the  amount  of  the  resurrection  promised  in  Christ,  has 
been  already  shown,  being  a  necessary  inference  from  statements 
previously  made.  But  as  the  subject  is  important,  and  somewhat 
intricate  to  the  natural  mind,  we  shall  prosecute  it  to  some  length. 
And  it  is  enforced  with  great  perspicuity  by  the  Apostle  in  the  sixth 
chapter  of  his  epistle  to  the  Romans.  That  those  believers  at  Rome, 
to  whom  he  wrote,  were  yet  living  in  the  natural  body,  having  never 
put  it  off,  and  therefore  could  not  possibly  have  reassumed  it — that 
he  addressed  them  in  the  character  of  those  who  were  born  again, 
and  that  he  considered  them  risen  with  Christ,  being  dead  and  alive 
again,  are  facts  not  to  be  controverted.  "  How  shall  we  that  are  dead 
[have  died]  to  sin  live  any  longer  therein  ?  Know  ye  not  that  so 
many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized  into  his 
death  .^"  Thus  the  life  of  the  Christian  commences  with  death,  even 
the  death  of  Christ ;  this  is  the  beginning  of  their  spiritual  race  or 
warfare,  they  are  baptized  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ  into  his  death  ;  as 
it  is  said  in  another  place,  (1  Cor.  xii.  13,)  "  For  by  one  Spirit  are 
we  all  baptized  into  one  body." 

It  would  be  an  unnecessary  labour,  as  well  as  improper,  to  enter 
into  disputations  on  the  subject  of  water  baptism,  so  much  controverted 
and  so  highly  esteemed  by  professors,  and  which  at  best  cannot  be 
considered,  with  any  plausibility,  as  any  thing  more  than  a  sign,  or 
shadow  :  it  cannot  introduce  or  baptize  souls  into  the  death  of  Christ. 
The  baptism  of  which  the  Apostle  here  speaks  is  that  of  the  Spirit ; 
that  one  baptism  which  exists  in  the  Church  which  is  the  body  of 
Christ ;  for  as  many  as  were  baptized  therewith,  were  baptized  into 
his  death  :  this  could  not  be  said  of  any  other  than  the  baptism  of  the 
Spirit.  And  it  is  evident  the  apostles  made  no  account  of  the  sign, 
or  water  baptism,  in  the  matter  of  salvation,  neither  do  they  ever 
speak  of  it  as  any  part  of  real  Christianity  ;  but  always  that  of  the 
Spirit,  into  Christ  and  into  his  death.  There  is  one  body  and  one 
Spirit,  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism  ;  for  by  one  Spirit  are  we 
(who  are  in  Christ)  all  baptized  into  one  body.     Now  all  they  who 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  359 

are  baptized  in  water  are  not  baptized  into  one  body,  but  those  bap- 
tized into  Christ  or  into  his  death  are.  This  is  the  baptism  which 
accompanies  salvation,  but  not  the  baptism  of  water.  As  says  the 
apostle  Peter,  when  speaking  of  the  ark,  "  Wherein  few,  that  is, 
eight  souls,  were  saved  by  water.  The  antitype  to  which,  baptism, 
doth  now  save  us  (not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but 
the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God)  through  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ :"  (1  Pet.  iii.  20,  21 :)  not  water  but  the  Spirit. 

John  baptized  with  water,  but  Christ  with  the  Spirit ;  and  he  sent 
his  disciples  and  commissioned  them  to  do  his  work  and  to  receive 
his  glory,  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you."  "He 
that  believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also."  "And 
the  glory  which  thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them."  (Jno.  xiv.  12, 
and  xvii.  22,  and  xx.  21.)  And  this  is  in  the  Spirit  and  truth,  the 
baptism  with  which  Christ  commanded  and  commissioned  his  apostles 
to  baptize  all  nations,  saying,  "Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  [or  dis- 
ciple] all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  [s/g  to  ovo(/-a]  into  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  (not  into  or 
with  water,  but  initiating  them  into  the  doctrine,  life  and  death  of 
Christ  in  whom  the  Father  and  the  Spirit  dwelt.)  "Teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things,  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  (Matt, 
xxviii.  19,  20.)  Or  as  another  evangelist  has  it :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not,  (such  can- 
not be  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  Christ,)  shall  be  damned." 
(Mark.  xvi.  15,  16.)  Accordingly  says  the  Apostle  ;  "  Not  that  we 
are  sufficient  of  ourselves  to  think  any  thing  as  of  ourselves  ;  but  our 
sufficiency  is  of  God :  who  also  hath  made  us  able  ministers  of  the 
new  testament ;  not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  Spirit."  (2  Cor.  iii.  5, 
6.)  This  is  the  true  Christian  baptism  whereby  men  are  baptized  in- 
to Christ  or  into  his  death  •  while  many  are  running  in  his  name,  say- 
ing, I  am  Christ,  (but  not  doing  his  works,  nor  walking  in  his  Spirit,) 
baptizing  the  people  with  water,  and  cursing  them  with  deception, 
persuading  them  that  this  is  the  true  Christian  baptism,  and  that  they 
are  herein  following  Christ,  while  they  experience  nothing  of  his 
death  or  his  resurrection.  But  all  true  Christians  are  baptized  into 
Christ  and  into  his  death  and  raised  with  him.  "  Therefore  we  are 
buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death  ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised 
up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should 
walk  in  newness  of  life.  For  if  we  have  been  planted  together  in 
the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resur- 
rection." What  was  that  likeness  of  his  death  to  which  the  Apostle 
referred  them  }  The  same  death  in  them  which  had  been  in  him,  as 
the  after  context  shows.  Not  disputing  the  probability  that  he  had  a 
reference  to  baptism  in  water  as  a  figure,  as  he  sometimes  spake  of 
circumcision  for  the  same  purpose.  But  as  there  was  the  likeness  of 
his  death,  so  also  there  must  be  an  equivalent  likeness  of  his  resur- 
rection, and  they  be  planted  together  with  him  in  both.  This  could 
not  be  the  case  with  any  outward  baptism,  for  that  cannot  continue 
with  them  until  the  perfecting  of  the  saints  in  the  resurrection  : 
neither  is  there  any  such  sign  appointed. 

What  then  is  that  likeness  of  his  resurrection,  in  which  believers 


360  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

are  planted  together  with  him  ?  The  same  resurrection  in  them,  the 
likeness  of  that  which  was  in  him,  and  which  they  began  to  receive  in 
the  same  baptism,  by  which  they  were  (and  now  are,  as  many  as  re- 
ceive him)  baptized  into  his  death.  For  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit 
abideth  the  same,  even  to  the  completion  of  the  work  of  redemption, 
in  those  who  receive  it,  and  keep  it.  Accordingly  the  Apostle  pro- 
ceeds :  "  Knowing  this,  that  our  old  man  is  crucified  with  him,  that 
the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that  we  should  not  serve  sin. 
[Here  is  the  crucifixion  with  Christ  and  death  to  sin.]  For  he  that 
is  dead,  [or  hath  died,  not  in  sin,  neither  who  hath  laid  ofi"  the  body, 
but  to  sin,  as  Christ  also  died,]  is  freed  [or  justified]  from  sin.  [Here 
is  the  beginning  of  life.]  Now,  if  we  be  dead  with  Christ,  we  believe 
that  we  shall  also  live  with  him.  Knowing  that  Christ  being  raised 
from  the  dead,  dieth  no  more  ;  death  hath  no  more  dominion  over 
him ;"  and  such  is  the  blessedness  of  his  people,  as  he  said,  (John, 
xi.  25,  26,)  "  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet 
shall  he  live  :  and  whosoever  liveth,  and  believeth  in  me,  shall  never 
die." 

And  what  was  the  death  which  Jesus  died  ?  To  sin.  And  what 
was  the  life  which  he  lived  ?  A  life  to  God — a  life  of  holy  obedience, 
"  For  in  that  he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once  ;  but  in  that  he  liveth, 
he  liveth  unto  God."  Now  what  are  the  effects  toward  us,  of  the 
death  and  life  of  Jesus  Christ.?  The  same  death  and  life  in  us,  as 
many  as  live  worthy  of  their  privilege.  "  Likewise  reckon  ye  also 
yourselves  to  be  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Let  not  sin  therefore  reign  in  your  mortal 
body,  that  ye  should  obey  it  in  the  lusts  thereof.  Neither  yield  ye 
your  members  as  instruments  of  unrighteousness  unto  sin  :  but  yield 
yourselves  unto  God,  as  those  that  are  alive  from  the  dead,  and  your 
members  as  instruments  of  righteousness  unto  God.  For  sin  shall 
not  have  dominion  over  you :  for  ye  are  not  under  the  law  but  under 
grace."  Thus  by  a  proper  attention  to  the  Apostle,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  see,  what  is  the  true  resurrection  in  Christ,  to  which  those  attain 
who  are  in  him  and  for  which  they  strive.  Freedom  from  sin,  and 
from  the  law,  with  power  to  serve  God  in  righteousness  and  holiness. 
All  which  are  the  proper  fruits  and  effects  of  the  work  of  regenera- 
tion, or  coming  out  of  the  first  Adam  into  the  second.  And  this  is 
the  resurrection  promised  in  Christ ;  as  will  yet  more  pointedly  ap- 
pear from  an  investigation  of  the  subject  as  stated  in  the  fifteenth 
chapter  to  the  Corinthians,  first  epistle. 

In  this  part  of  the  epistle  the  subject  is  treated  in  an  orderly  and 
masterly  manner.  The  subject  is  introduced  with  a  statement  of  the 
Apostle's  preaching,  when  he  first  introduced  the  Gospel  among  that 
people,  and  the  fact  which  he  testified  as  a  fundamental  truth,  in  the 
reception,  confirmation  and  establishment  of  the  Gospel,  that  fact 
without  the  faith  of  which  the  Gospel  could  not  subsist  in  the  Avorld 
— this  fact  is  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  as  subsequent  to  his  death. 
"  For  I  have  delivered  unto  youfirst  of  all,  that  which  I  also  received,  how 
that  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  that 
he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day,  according  to  the 
Scriptures  ;  and  that  he  was  seen  of  Cephas,  then  of  the  twelve, 
[and  others  afterwards] — Whether  I  or  they,  so  we  preach,  and  so  ye 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  361 

believed."     These  facts  were  and  still  are  received  and  acknow- 
ledged by  all  true  believers. 

He  next  proceeds  to  show  the  inconsistency  of  their  having  re- 
ceived the  Gospel  on  those  principles,  and  yet  some  among  them, 
who  were  accounted  believers,  denying  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
and  to  prove  that  either  the  dead  must  rise  and  live  in  a  future  and 
superior  state,  or  the  testimony  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  be 
proved  false.  On  this  part  of  the  argumentation,  two  things  are 
to  be  observed.  First.  That  the  arguments  are  all  proffered 
to  those  who  believe  the  Gospel,  and  in  it  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  as  they  are  all  built  on  the  credibility  of  that  fact,  and 
no  appeal  is  made  to  any  principles  or  data,  acknowledged  by 
unbelievers,  so  that  they  could  have  no  direct  influence  on  such : 
and  this  is  the  method  of  all  the  apostolic  writings  ;  that  they  were  writ- 
ten to  believers  and  not  to  unbelievers.  Secondly.  The  next  ob- 
servation is,  that  none  of  the  Apostle's  arguments  in  this  discourse, 
minister  any  support  to  the  notion  of  the  resurrection  of  the  animal 
body,  being  all  such  as  can  be  answered  without  any  appeal  to  that  as 
a  fact,  or  having  it  necessarily  involved  with  the  subject,  but  aim  to 
prove  a  future  state  of  existence,  or  a  life  to  come,  in  Christ  after 
the  present  has  come  to  a  close  ;  as,  "  If  in  this  life  only  we  have 
hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable  ;"  and,  "  As  in  Adam 
all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  ;"  that  is,  believers  ;  as 
I  have  before  shown  that  he  wrote  to  them  exclusively.  But  these 
things  will  be  more  evident  by  a  view  of  his  argumentation. 

"  Now  if  Christ  be  preached  that  he  rose  from  the  dead,  how  say 
some  among  you,  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead  }  But  if 
there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  is  Christ  not  risen  :  and  if 
Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also 
vain.  Yea,  and  we  are  found  false  witnesses  of  God  :  because  we 
have  testified  of  God  that  he  raised  up  Christ ;  whom  he  raised  not 
up,  if  so  be  that  the  dead  rise  not.  For  if  the  dead  rise  not  then  is 
not  Christ  raised  ;  and  if  Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is  vain  ;  ye 
are  yet  in  your  sins.  Then  they  also  who  are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ 
are  perished.  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of 
all  men  most  miserable."  It  would  be  imposing  on  the  good  sense 
of  the  judicious  reader,  to  take  up  each  of  these  arguments  and 
show  how  ineffective  they  would  all  be  towards  an  unbeliever.  For 
what  efficacy  can  an  inference  have  with  one  who  has  no  faith  in  the 
premises  .'' 

The  Apostle,  by  a  well-constructed  plan,  adapted  to  those  who  be- 
lieved the  first  principles,  enforces  the  subject,  by  showing  how  it 
comes  to  pass  that  the  dead  are  raised  and  inherit  new  life.  "  But 
now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the  first-fruits  of  them 
that  slept.  For,  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive.  But  every  man  in  his  own  order  :  Christ  the 
first-fruits:  afterwards  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming."  A  lit- 
tle after  he  resumes  the  subject,  with  arguments  somewhat  diverse 
from  the  former  ;  to  wit,  the  unreasonableness  and  improbability  that 
he  and  other  Christians  should  suffer  such  things  as  they  did,  were 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  future  state  of  retribution  not  true. 


362  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

Of  this  class  of  arguments,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  although  directed 
immediately  to  believers,  as  being  founded  on  the  hope  of  eternal  life, 
ministered  and  nourished  in  the  Gospel,  which  hope  must  fail  without 
the  resurrection,  they  are  not  very  improperly,  though  somewhat  in- 
directly, calculated  to  beget  faith  in  the  natural  man  ;  because  it  will 
be  justly  considered  an  unreasonable  thing,  and  very  improbable,  that 
Christians,  who  are  naturally  men  of  like  passions  with  others,  would 
endure  such  privations,  and  undergo  such  sufferings,  which  are  real 
and  distressing,  in  the  hope  of  a  life  to  come,  unless  supported  by 
good  evidence.  "  Else  what  shall  they  do,  who  are  baptized  for  the 
dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at  all  ?  Why  are  they  then  baptized  for 
the  dead  ?  And  why  stand  we  in  jeopardy  every  hour  ?  I  protest  by 
your  rejoicing  which  I  have  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  I  die  daily.  If 
after  the  manner  of  men,  I  have  fought  with  beasts  at  Ephesus,  what 
advantageth  it  me,  if  the  dead  rise  not  ?  let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to- 
morrow we  die.  Be  not  deceived  ;  evil  communications  corrupt  good 
manners." 

The  violent  attachment  of  Christian  professors  to  the  notion  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  natural  body,  will  be  a  sufficient  apology  for  my 
imposition  on  the  good  sense  of  the  judicious  reader,  so  far  as  to  ob- 
serve, that  there  is  nothing  in  any  of  these  arguments,  of  the  former 
or  latter  class,  to  confirm  or  support  that  doctrine,  because  every  ar- 
gument in  favour  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  can  be  amply  satis- 
fied by  the  spirit's  inheriting  eternal  life.  For  example  :  "  If  in  this 
life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable." 
But,  says  the  Sadducee,  or  disputer  against  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  (if  that  were  the  point  in  debate)  :  I  do  not  mean  that  we  shall 
not  exist  after  death,  neither  do  I  mean  that  we  shall  not  have  an 
eternal  life  in  futurity  ;  I  only  mean  that  these  same  bodies  will  not 
rise  again,  to  be  the  habitation  of  our  spirits  in  that  eternal  state. 
And  this  argument  the  Apostle  has  said  nothing  to  rebut ;  and  so  of 
the  rest.  And  it  cannot  be  concealed  that  he  was  too  profound  a  rea- 
soner  (one  side  of  the  consideration  that  he  spake  in  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit)  to  leave  so  material  an  argument  in  such  a  free  discus- 
sion of  so  fundamental  a  subject  unanswered. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  other  class  of  arguments  ;  as  "  Why  stand 
we  in  jeopardy  every  hour  .'*"  and  "  If  after  the  manner  of  men  I  have 
fought  with  beasts  at  Ephesus,  what  advantageth  it  me,  if  the  dead 
rise  not }  let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  Let  us  take 
.  pleasure  and  ease  while  we  can  get  it :  for  to-morrow,  or  very  shortly 
at  least,  we  die  and  there  is  no  more  of  us  ;  but  especially  we  are  ex- 
posed to  a  short  life,  while  we  maintain  the  faith  of  Christ,  by  which 
we  are  continually  kept  under  the  lash  of  persecution.  Why,  there- 
fore, need  we  be  thus  exposed  to  danger  .?  And  what  profit  will  my 
sufferings  at  Ephesus  be  to  me,  which  I  endured  for  Christ,  if  the 
dead  rise  not  ?  Are  not  all  these  things  in  vain  to  me  and  to  us  all .? 
Nay,  says  the  Sadducee,  For  your  spirit  shall  live,  or  ye  shall  live  in 
the  spirit,  and  inherit  a  full  compensation  for  all  these  sufferings  and 
abuses,  in  that  eternal  life  which  shall  be  your  final  portion,  when  for 
ever  done  with  this  earthly  body ;  this  argument,  as  before  observed, 
the  Apostle  has  said  nothing  to  rebut ;  which  could  not  have 
passed  without  notice,  had  the  resurrection  of  the  body  been  the  point 


OF    THE    RESUKRECTION.  363 

in  dispute.  It  is  therefore  logically  true,  tliat  all  wMcli  the  Apostle 
has  proved,  and  therefore  all  he  intended  to  prove,  was  that  the  spi- 
rits of  men  exist  hereafter,  or  that  men  exist  in  the  spirit,  inheriting 
spiritual  bodies. 

While  on  this  particular,  it  will  not  be  foreign  from  the  main  sub- 
ject in  consideration,  to  introduce  the  words  of  Jesus  to  the  Saddu- 
cees,  as  being  collateral  with  those  of  the  Apostle.  "  Now  that  the 
dead  are  raised,  even  Moses  showed  at  the  bush,  when  he  called  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 
Jacob.  For  he  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living  ;  for 
all  live  unto  him."  Now  these  three  men  were  long  since  dead, 
and  yet  they  were  alive,  for  God  was  their  God,  and  he  is  not  a  God 
of  the  dead  but  of  the  living.  They  were  also  the  same  men,  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob  ;  and  yet  had  not  on  their  earthly  bodies  ;  for 
the  time  had  not  yet  commenced  for  them  to  rise,  even  if  such  an 
event  had  been  expected. 

Again  :  the  words  of  Jesus  show,  that  these  three  men  were  either, 
then  in  the  resurrection,  or  in  a  situation  capable  of  it.  If  the  first, 
they  were  risen,  and  the  material  body  had  no  participation  in  it.  If 
the  second,  the  situation  in  which  they  then  were  proved  them  capa- 
able  of  coming  forth,  among  those  who  had  done  good,  to  the  resur- 
rection of  life,  without  any  relation  to  the  old  dust.  But,  say  the 
Sadducees,  we  are  convinced,  by  this  reasoning  from  the  words  of 
Moses,  for  they  were  at  least  put  to  silence,  (Matt,  xxii.23,)  that  the 
dead  shall  live  again;  but  these  bodies  are  not  to  rise  and  live  again; 
Moses  has  said  nothing  of  that,  and  thou  hast  brought  us  no  proof  of 
it  from  his  words,  but  rather  of  the  contrary,  for  he  makes  them  alive 
without  their  former  bodies.  This  argument  there  is  nothing  in  the 
words  of  Jesus  to  obviate.  If  therefore  the  resurrection  of  the  same 
body  was  the  point  in  question,  or  at  all  necessary  to  the  existence 
of  the  true  resurrection,  Christ,  the  Wisdom  of  God,  has  left  the 
grand  point,  in  this  fundamental  doctrine,  without  any  proof,  or  even 
an  assertion,  as  his  great  apostle  did  after  him  ;  to  whose  discourse 
we  now  return. 

The  Apostle  having  stated  the  fact,  together  with  such  argumenta- 
tion as  he  judged  it  expedient  to  use  on  the  occasion,  proceeds,  in 
the  next  place,  to  show  more  fully  what  the  resurrection  is,  and  the 
manner  of  its  coming  forth.  He,  in  the  first  place,  compares  it  to  a 
crop  of  grain,  which  is  sown  in  the  seed  or  bare  grain,  but  is  brought 
forth  another  body,  which  God  gives  it,  and  then  applies  it  to  what  it 
really  is,  a  spiritual  body,  which  is  first  sown  in  the  first  Adam,  and 
is  perfected  in  the  second.  "  But  some  man  will  say,  How  are  the 
dead  raised  up  ;  and  with  what  body  do  they  come  .''  Thou  fool, 
that  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quickened  except  it  die  :  and  that 
which  thou  sowest,  thou  sowest  not  that  body  that  shall  be,  but 
bare  grain ;  it  may  chance  of  wheat,  or  of  some  other  grain.  But 
God  giveth  it  a  body,  as  it  hath  pleased  him,  and  to  every  seed  his 
own  body."  These  words  pointedly  and  unequivocally  declare,  that 
the  resurrection  body,  or  that  body  which  is  the  subject  of  the  resur- 
rection, is  not  that  body  which  is  sown,  or  the  first  body,  as  after- 
wards called. 

But  as  this  is  a  part  of  Scripture,  so  frequently  contradicted  by 


364  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

many  professors,  with  peremptory  and  bold  assertions,  tliat  the  Apos- 
tle here  teaches  expressly,  that  it  is  the  same  body,  the  candid  reader 
will  bear  with  me,  while  I  impose  so  far  on  his  patience  as  to  make  a 
few  remarks  for  the  sake  of  elucidation.  I  grant  that  these  remarks 
are,  some  of  them,  so  minute,  and  at  the  same  time  so  evident  on  the 
simple  reading  of  the  text,  were  it  not  for  the  influence  of  education 
and  prepossession,  that  they  would  almost  need  an  apology,  to  pre- 
serve the  author  of  them  from  the  suspicion  of  being  insane,  or  of  an 
oflElcious  fondness  for  writing.  However,  from  the  foregoing  consid- 
erations it  may  be  necessary  to  remark  :  First,  that  the  body  which  is 
sown,  is  not  quickened  except  it  die.  That  is  after  the  sowing;  for 
let  the  grain  die,  or  undergo  any  change,  which  can  with  any  propri- 
ety be  called  dying,  and  it  is  useless  to  sow  it,  because  it  will  not 
grow  or  produce  a  crop.  This,  therefore,  cannot  apply  to  the  case 
of  the  natural  body,  or  cold  lump  of  flesh  and  bones,  which  is  depos- 
ited in  the  grave,  being  previously  dead,  (for  the  body  without  the 
spirit  is  dead,)  and  therefore  cannot  die  again :  that  which  is  abso- 
lutely dead,  cannot  become  more  dead.  But  what  is  here  affirmed  of 
the  grain  when  sown,  is  truly  applicable  to  the  natural  body,  or  to  the 
physical  man,  as  originated  in  the  first  Adam ;  for  as  the  bare  grain 
cannot  be  quickened,  or  bring  forth  its  proper  crop,  unless  it  be  put 
into  the  ground,  or  covered  with  manure,  which  is  its  proper  soil  for 
prolification,  so  neither  can  the  natural  man  ever  come  forth  in  the 
resurrection,  or  be  raised  to  a  new  and  glorified  state,  unless  he  be 
planted  with  Christ  in  the  Gospel,  which  is  the  proper  and  only  soil 
in  which  the  spiritual  body  can  be  produced.  For  as  the  bare  grain, 
planted  in  the  soil  of  the  earth,  dies  ;  that  is,  gives  away  its  spirit,  or 
that  part  of  which  its  vegetable  life  and  usefulness  consist,  to  enable 
the  earth  to  produce  a  new  and  more  valuable  crop  after  its  proper 
kind,  a  body  proper  to  that  sort  of  grain ;  (for  as  the  body  without  the 
spirit  is  dead,  so  the  grain  without  its  vegetable  spirit  is  dead  also ;) 
so  the  natural  man,  or  child  of  the  first  Adam,  when  planted  in  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  dies  with  Christ,  being  planted  together  with  him  in 
the  likeness  of  his  death ;  he  becomes  dead  to  that  to  which  he  once 
lived,  and  gives  out  his  spirit  which  constitutes  his  life  so  far,  at  least, 
that  without  it  he  can  have  none,  and  converts  it  away  from  his  former 
life  in  the  first  Adam,  and  devotes  it  to  Christ  in  the  Gospel,  to  ena- 
ble the  Gospel  to  bring  forth  a  new  and  more  glorious  body,  or  man, 
in  Christ  the  beginning  of  the  new  creation  of  God — a  body  peculiar 
to  that  rank  or  order  of  beings.  "  Therefore  if  any  man  be  in  Christ, 
he  is  a  new  creature,  old  things  are  passed  away :  behold,  all  things 
are  become  new."  Now,  if  we  be  dead  with  Christ,  we  believe  that 
we  shall  also  live  with  him."  (2  Cor.  v.  17  ;  Rom.  vi.  8.) 

But  as  the  earth  can  produce  no  crop  of  grain,  unless  the  seed  be 
first  deposited  in  it,  so  the  Gospel  cannot  produce  a  new  body,  or  re- 
generated man,  in  the  order  of  Christ,  without  a  natural  man  in  the 
order  of  the  first  Adam  to  be  regenerated.  And  as  in  the  production 
of  a  crop  of  grain,  there  are  always  two  productions,  (not  to  say  a  con- 
tinued succession ;  for  in  all  crops  of  grain  in  its  proper  order,  the 
crop  exceeds  the  seed  in  quantity  only,  being  a  continued  succession 
of  the  same  kind,  but  inferior  or  superior  in  quality,  according  to  the 
influence  of  adventitious  causes,)  so  in  the  resurrection  of  men  to 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  365 

eternal  life  in  Christ,  there  are  two  productions  or  births,  the  first 
originating  in  the  first  Adam,  and  (to  trace  the  subject  from  the  be- 
ginning) taking  its  origin  from  the  act  of  generation  ;  and  the  second 
originating  in  Christ,  being  begotten  by  the  word  preached  and  re- 
ceived by  faith  and  obedience  ;  which  is  the  same  as  to  be  planted 
in  the  Gospel.  But  each  of  these  births  is  produced  in  its  proper 
order  ;  and  a  man  in  the  Spirit,  work,  or  union  in  the  one  has  no 
participation  in  the  other.  Accordingly  the  children  of  this  world, 
or  of  the  first  Adam,  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage  ;  but  those 
in  the  resurrection,  which  is  Christ,  or  those  accounted  worthy  to 
obtain  the  resurrection,  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage.  So 
of  the  first  Adam  it  is  said:  They  (the  man  and  his  wife)  shall  be 
one  flesh  ;  and  again  :  They  are  therefore  no  more  twain  but  one 
flesh.  But  of  Christ  it  is  said.  He  that  is  joined  to  the  Lord  is  one 
Spirit. 

But  again:  "  Thou  sowest  not  that  body  that  shall  be."  When  a 
man  begets  a  son,  in  the  order  of  the  first  Adam,  he  does  not  plant 
that  body  which  shall  be  raised  glorious  in  Christ,  being  a  subject  of 
the  resurrection,  but  bare  animal  seed.  But  as  every  kind  of  animal, 
in  prolification,  communicates  to  its  issue  the  rudiments,  or  constitu- 
ent first  principles  of  its  species,  so  man  also,  who  is  an  animal, 
though  of  the  superior  order  on  account  of  the  superior  rational 
spirit,  communicates  to  his  physical  ofispring,  in  the  process  of  pro- 
lification, the  rudiments  of  his  species.  So  that  man  is  begotten 
entire  man  in  embryo  ;  is  born  and  grows  up  entire  man  in  the  first 
body ;  out  of  that  first  body  or  seed,  which  was  produced  by  the  first 
Adam,  comes  forth  in  the  work  of  regeneration,  or  the  resurrection, 
by  the  power  of  Christ  in  the  Gospel,  that  spirit  of  which  is  formed 
the  new  body,  or  the  new  man  with  such  body  as  it  has  pleased 
God  to  give  him.  Hence  it  will  follow,  that  the  regenerated,  or  re- 
surrected man,  is  the  same  as  before,  as  to  identity  of  person,  or  the 
most  essential  constituent  parts  ;  but  is  a  new  man  as  being  regene- 
rated into  a  new  and  superior  order,  having  laid  aside  the  first  order 
pertaining  to  the  first  Adam  with  the  natural  body,  before  the  work 
is  completely  finished,  and  put  on  the  spiritual  which  is  of  Christ. 
All  such  put  ofi"  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  and  put  on  the  new, 
who  is  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  who  created 
him. 

"  But  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath  pleased  him,  and  to  every 
seed  his  own  body."  On  the  authority  of  this  last  clause  of  the  verse, 
I  suppose  it  has  been,  that  some,  not  to  say  many,  have  asserted 
with  great  confidence,  that  the  Apostle  here  teaches  that  the  same 
body  which  was  sown  is  that  which  also  comes  forth  in  the  crop,  and 
consequently,  that  the  same  material  body  which  is  interred  is  that 
which  is  raised  to  eternal  life  in  the  resurrection,  notwithstanding  his 
express  declaration  to  the  contrary.  "  Thou  sowest  not  that  body 
which  shall  be."  But  if  by  saying,  "And  to  every  seed,  his  own 
body,"  he  meant  that  every  seed  receives  the  same  body  which  was 
sown,  here  is  a  pointed  contradiction ;  his  testimony  has  in  this  in- 
stance invalidated  itself — he  has  taught  nothing.  But  it  is  plain 
enough  to  be  understood,  that  To  every  seed  his  own  body,  means  To 
every  seed  a  body  peculiar  to  that  kind  of  seed,  which  is  properly  its  own 


366  OF    THE    RESURKECTION. 

body;  and  then  the  contradiction  is  avoided,  and  no  violence  is  done 
to  the  language.  The  candid  among  the  learned  can  help  to  confirm 
this  statement,  by  noticing  that  the  Greek  phrase  there  used,  is  very 
justly  rendered  in  English,  a  proper  body,  or  a  body  peculiar  to  it, 
and  contains  nothing  in  it  to  require  any  translation,  or  acceptation, 
which  would  at  all  contradict  or  weaken  what  is  before  asserted. 
That  it  is  not  the  same  body.  The  learned  Philip  Doddridge  saw 
the  propriety  of  this  criticism ;  and,  in  his  critical  notes  on  the  text, 
has  acknowledged,  that  there  appears  to  be  a  reference  in  the  Apos- 
tle's words,  to  the  bodies  peculiar  to  the  different  kinds  of  grain  ; 
but  for  the  want  of  better  testimony  to  support  his  favourite  plan,  or 
not  having  a  right  understanding  of  the  subject,  he  has  pressed  this 
text  into  his  scheme,  the  glaring  contradiction  above  stated  notwith- 
standing. 

There  are  various  kinds  of  bodies  on  the  earth,  and  every  species 
of  animals  has  its  peculiarities  of  body  ;  so  also  may  there  be  divers 
degrees  of  glory  among  the  subjects  of  the  resurrection ;  but  every 
individual  subject  must  have  a  spiritual  body  agreeing  in  nature  and 
lineage  with  all  the  rest.  "  All  flesh  is  not  the  same  flesh  :  but  there 
is  one  kind  of  flesh  of  men,  another  flesh  of  beasts,  another  of 
fishes,  and  another  of  birds.  There  are  also  celestial  bodies,  and 
bodies  terrestrial ;  btit  the  glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the 
glory  of  the  terrestrial  is  another.  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun, 
and  another  glory  of  the  moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  stars  :  for 
one  star  differeth  from  another  in  glory.  So  also  is  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead.  It  is  sown  in  corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorrup- 
tion."  What  is  sown.^  Not  the  same  body  which  is  raised,  as 
some  adventurously  and  preposterously  assert,  through  prepossession 
and  prejudicial  education,  or  an  unacquaintance  with  the  subject  in 
the  true  spirit  of  it,  and  perhaps,  also,  for  the  want  of  considering 
the  plain  connection  of  the  different  members  of  the  sentence — Thou 
sowest  not  that  body  that  shall  be.  But  it  is  sown.  What  is  it  } 
The  resurrection ;  or  that  crop  which  comes  forth  after  the  sowing 
of  the  first  seed,  or  its  being  planted  and  dying  ;  "  So  also  is  the  re- 
surrection of  the  dead  ;  it  is  sown  in  corruption."  In  that  corrupt 
nature  found  in  that  corrupt  work,  which  has  always  been  shown  to 
be  unclean  since  the  days  of  Moses,  and  all  whose  fruits  are  in  cor- 
ruption and  death,  until  finally  dissolved  :  As  in  Adam  all  die.  Or, 
in  plain  terms,  it  is  sown  in  the  flesh,  which  is  corruption  as  though 
in  the  abstract ;  or  as  though  there  were  nothing  pertaining  to  the 
flesh  but  corruption  absolutely.  Accordingly,  "  He  that  soweth  to 
the  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption  ;"  but  the  crop,  or  fruit 
of  the  flesh  is  flesh  again,  for  "  That  which  is  of  the  flesh  is  flesh." 
The  fruit  therefore  which  those  reap  who  sow  to  the  flesh  is  flesh, 
or  it  is  corruption  as  though  in  the  abstract,  for  corruption  is  so  com- 
bined with  the  flesh  that  wherever  the  flesh  is,  there  is  corruption, 
and  whatever  is  done  by  the  instigation  of  the  flesh  is  done  in  corrup- 
tion :  "  It  is  sown  in  corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruption  ;"  In  the 
incorruptible  Spirit  and  likeness  of  Christ,  and  by  the  power  of  his 
word,  which  is  incorruptible  seed,  and  lives  and  abides  for  ever. 
"  It  is  sown  in  dishonour  ;"  in  that  work  which  for  the  very  dishonour 
of  it,  even  when  sanctioned  by  the  broad  seal  of  law  authority,  all 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  367 

men  who  have  the  smallest  sense  of  shame  are  constrained  to  conceal : 
for  men  are  not  wont  to  conceal  honourable  deeds  ;  "  I  was  shapen 
in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me."  (Psa.  li.  6.) 
"  It  is  raised  in  glory  ;"  fashioned  in  the  glorious  likeness  of  Christ. 
"  It  is  sown  in  weakness  ;"  of  which  all  are  partakers  in  the  first 
Adam,  more  or  less,  from  their  conception  to  the  grave.  "  It  is  raised 
in  power."  "  It  is  sown  a  natural  body,  [according  to  the  first  Adam,! 
it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body,  [according  to  the  order  of  the  last  Adam.] 
"  There  is  a  natural  body,  [which  is  the  first  Adam  and  according  to 
him,]  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body,  [which  is  the  last  Adam  and  accord- 
ing to  him.]  "  And  so  it  is  written,  The  first  man  Adam  was  made 
a  living  soul,  the  last  Adam  a  quickening  spirit."  These  last  words 
are  unequivocally  to  the  point ;  and  conclusively  put  the  matter  beyond 
doubt,  with  every  judicious  inquirer,  that  the  ?um  of  the  resurrection 
is  regeneration,  or  becoming  new  creatures  in  Christ,  that  is,  coming 
out  of  the  first  Adam  into  the  last,  in  spiritual  union  and  relation  j 
which  was  the  point  to  be  proved. 

But  the  Apostle  proceeds  to  a  farther  illustration  of  the  subject. 
"Howbeit,  that  was  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natu- 
ral ;  and  afterwards  that  which  isspiritual."  The  spiritual  body  there- 
fore, is  not  the  same  which  was  once  natural, else  it  had  been  first,  yea, 
both  first  and  last,  [a  title  which  belongs  to  none  in  all  the  Church, 
Christ  excepted,]  but  he  says  it  was  not  first.  Our  existence  in  Christ, 
or  our  spiritual  body,  is  not  our  first  existence,  but  that  in  Adam,  which 
is  natural,  and  afterwards  that  in  Christ  which  is  spiritual.  Accord- 
ingly it  is  added,  that  "  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy  ;  the  sec- 
cond  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven.  As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they 
also  that  are  earthy  ;.  [Adam's  sons  are  like  himself;]  and  as  is  the 
heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly.  [The  people  of  Christ 
are  spiritual  and  walk  in  the  same  way  with  him.]  And  as  Ave  have 
borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  hea- 
venly." These  words  are  satisfactorily  to  the  point,  that  this  is  the 
meaning  of  the  natural  body  which  is  first,  and  of  the  spiritual  which  is 
last,  to  wit:  that  the  first  pertains  to  the  first  Adam,  according  to  his 
order,  and  the  last  to  the  second  Adam,  who  is  Christ,  according  to  his 
order,  and  consequently,  that  to  come  out  of  the  first  Adam  into  the 
second,  is  the  true  resurrection  promised  in  Christ,  for  in  this  point  the 
Apostle's  arguments  all  concentrate.  I  have  before  shown  that  the  re- 
generation, or  resurrection,  is  not  an  instantaneous  work,  but  progress- 
ive. Accordingly  the  Apostle  speaks  of  it,  as  being  yet  to  come,  al- 
though he  and  other  faithful  believers  had  actually  begun  to  partake  of 
it,  and  were  alive  in  Christ  according  to  the  v/ork  of  that  day,  being 
alive  from  the  dead. 

But  to  put  the  matter  still  farther  out  of  doubt,  if  possible,  that  the 
material  body  has  neither  part  nor  lot  in  the  resurrection,  he  has 
added  :  "  Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and  blood  cannot  in- 
herit the  kingdom  of  God  ;  neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incorruplion." 
He  has  left  no  room  nor  possibility  for  the  entrance  of  flesh  and  blood, 
on  the  principle  of  any  alteration  or  refinement  which  they  might 
possibly  undergo,  but  accounts  them  corruption,  as  it  were,  in  the 
abstract.  Neither,  as  before  stated,  is  there  any  principle  in  nature, 
or  any  doctrine  of  revelation  to  prove,  that  flesh  and  blood,  or  any 


368  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

other  material  substance,  can  be  converted  into  spirit,  or  the  material 
body  become  a  spiritual  body,  although  there  is  authority  enough  in 
revelation,  and  not  contrary  to  natural  reason,  that  that  spirit  which 
inhabits  the  material  body  during  the  physical  life,  will  be  glorified  in 
the  likeness  of  Christ ;  this  is  the  true  resurrection.  According  to  this 
plan,  the  people  of  God  resemble  their  forerunner,  and  are  the  true 
followers  of  Christ,  who  was  born  into  the  world,  of  a  woman,  as  the 
children  also  are  ;  and  so  took  on  him  the  same  flesh  and  blood  with 
them,  that  through  death  (by  dying  to  sin  and  so  setting  them  an  ex- 
ample to  follow  his  steps)  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of 
death,  that  is,  the  devil,  and  deliver  those  who  throughfear  of  death,  were 
all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.  For  he  was  not  only  born  into  the 
world  of  a  woman,  as  other  men  are,  but  was  also  born  out  of  the  world 
to  God,  by  the  Spirit  of  regeneration,  that  he  might  therein  be  a  fore- 
runner to  his  people.  Or  he  was  born  from  the  dead,  and  is  the  first- 
fruits  of  them  that  slept ;  "  The  first-born  from  the  dead  ;  that  he  might 
in  all  things  have  the  pre-eminence;"  that  he  might  in  all  things  be  a 
leader  and  be  acknowledged  and  honoured  as  the  head  over  all,  and 
that  his  people  might  follow  him  through,  receiving  of  his  fullness, 
grace  according  to  grace.  "  Christ  the  first-fruits ;  afterwards  they 
that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming." 

It  is  indeed  true,  that  in  the  strictness  of  language,  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God,  never  did  either  die  or  fall  asleep;  neither  was  he 
ever  dead  in  sin  or  alive  to  sin.'  his  spirit,  or  soul,  was  'always  too 
deeply  immersed  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  too  devoutlj^  submis- 
sive to  his  will,  to  admit  of  any  such  things.  But  that  he  stood  in 
the  place  of  sinners,  partook  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  as  they 
exist  in  the  order  of  nature,  fallen  as  it  is,  when  God  prepared  him 
a  body,  and  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all ;  that  in  this  state  of 
existence  he  experienced  all  that  intimate  physical  union  between 
soul  and  body,  which  is  comnaon  to  other  men,  and  was  thereby  ex- 
posed to  suffer  all  the  temptations  and  allurements  of  the  fleshly,  or 
natural  appetites,  so  as  to  be  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are  ; 
that  he  suffered  the  ordinary  dissolution  of  that  physical  union,  in 
the  most  painful  and  ignominious  manner,  being  numbered  with  the 
transgressors,  and  making  his  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with  the 
rich  in  his  death,  and  so  passed  into  Hades,  the  receptacle  or  state  of 
the  dead,  or  departed  spirits,  and  was  thus  counted  of  those  who 
slept ;  and  that  he  thence  ascended  and  became  the  first-fruits  of 
them  that  slept  and  the  first-begotten  from  the  dead,  are  facts  too 
well  established  to  be  forgotten.  These  statements  comprehend  the 
only  principles  on  which  it  was  possible  for  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God,  to  die  to  sin,  being  perpetually  beset  with  temptations  of  the 
devil  through  the  flesh,  and  as  perpetually  and  successfully  resisting 
a.nd  overcoming,  until  he  arose  to  God  in  newness  of  life,  having  com- 
pletely vanquished  the  tempter,  disappointing  him  on  every  hand,  and 
having  svibjugated  and  completely  mortified  every  source  and  princi- 
ple of  temptation,  having  abolished  the  enmity  in  himself,  until  the 
enemy  had  no  more  room  to  work.  These  statements  also  contain  the 
only  principles  on  which  the  Son  of  God  can  be  said  to  have  been  dead, 
or  numbered  with  the  dead,  or  those  who  slept ;  but  so  far  was  he 
from  being  dead,  or  asleep,  as  had  been  the  case  with  many  others, 


OF    THE   RESUERECTION.  369 

that  lie  was  in  the  mean  time  actively  employed,  preaching  to  the 
spirits  in  prison,  who  had  been  disobedient  in  the  days  of  Noah,  and 
had  been  dismissed  to  Hades,  (the  state  or  receptacle  of  the  dead,)  in 
bondage  for  their  disobedience. 

That  the  spirits  of  men,  dislodged  from  the  body,  are  variously 
situated  according  to  their  proper  state  and  character  at  their  exit,  is 
no  doubt  a  reasonable  and  equitable  truth :  but  their  situation  was  in 
general  termed  a  sleep,  particularly  as  it  respected  the  righteous  under 
the  law,  as  signifying  that  state  in  which  they  were  neither  properly 
saved  nor  irrecoverably  lost — neither  properly  alive  to  God,  nor  finally 
dead  in  sin ;  neither  of  which  they  could  be  until  the  salvation  of  God 
appeared,  and  they  either  accepted  or  rejected  it.  For  the  law  making 
nothing  perfect,  and  opening  no  possible  way  of  salvation  from  all  sin, 
because  it  was  impossible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats,  and  the 
ashes  of  a  heifer  a  year  old,  or  all  their  meats  and  drinks  and  divers 
washings  and  carnal  ordinances,  should  take  away  sin;  so  neither  could 
it  sanction  a  final  and  confirmed  state  of  condemnation.  As  finished 
salvation  can  be  obtained  by  the  Gospel  only,  so  absolute  and  com- 
plete condemnation  is  the  lot  of  those  only  who  reject  it.  "  And  this 
is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved 
darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil."  (Jno.  iii. 
19.) 

The  same  term  of  sleep  was  continued  by  Jesus  and  his  apostles  in 
the  Gospel  dispensation,  with  special  application  to  believers  in  Christ, 
who  laid  down  the  tabernacle  in  the  faith,  and  waited  for  the  day  of 
final  and  full  redemption  at  his  second  appearing.  Agreeably  to  this 
acceptation  of  the  term  sleep,  the  Apostle  speaks  concerning  the  de- 
ceased, denominating  them,  Those  who  are  asleep,  and  again  saying, 
Those  who  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him.  And  of  the  same 
characters  he  says  in  the  same  discourse :  The  dead  in  Christ  shall 
rise  first.  So  said  Jesus  Christ :  "  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth ;"  and 
afterwards  said  plainly,  "Lazarus  is  dead." 

That  there  were  divers  degrees  in  the  faith,  light,  power  and  travel 
among  the  believers  from  the  beginning,  is  not  only  rational  but  scrip- 
tural ;  consequently  some  were  farther  advanced  in  the  spiritual  life 
than  others,  and  therefore  could  not  be  expected  to  fall  so  deeply  on 
sleep,  as  those  who  were  less  acquainted  with  God  and  more  lost  in 
the  earth.  Besides,  the  apostles  looked  for  a  day,  and  spoke  of  it,  in 
which  all  believers  should  be  entirely  awake,  and  arise  to  that  eternal 
life  in  which  they  should  receive  their  full  reward.  So  says  Paul : 
"  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which 
the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  to  me  in  that  day:  and  not  to 
me  only,  but  to  all  them  also  that  love  his  appearing .''^  (2  Tim.  iv.  8.) 
Until  that  day  should  appear  many  would  sleep,  but  in  that  day  none 
can  fail  of  being  waked  up. 

In  relation  to  this  day  speaks  the  Apostle,  bearing  forward  in  his 
discourse  on  the  resurrection.  (1  Cor.  xv.  51.)  "  Behold,  I  show  you 
a  mystery  ;  we  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed."  And 
a  little  after  he  shows  what  that  change  is  :  "  For  this  corruptible 
must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality." 
That  all  men  in  this  imbodied  state  are  mortal  and  corruptible,  being 
subject  to  the  dissolution  of  the  physical  constitution,  or  the  separation 
25 


370  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

of  the  spirit  from  the  body,  is  granted  by  all,  and  confirnaed  by  per- 
petual experience.  But  according  to  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  all  true 
believers  expect  to  grow  up  into  Christ  in  all  things  until  they  all 
come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 
to  a  perfect  man,  to  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ ; 
or  in  other  words  they  expect  (and  not  in  vain)  to  arise  with  Christ 
and  in  him,  to  that  eternal  life  which  is  incorruptible,  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away.  And  this  eternal  life  is  begun,  and  can  make 
its  advances,  in  those  who  are  in  the  body,  as  assuredly  as  in  those  who 
are  out ;  as  said  Jesus  ;  "  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  l.e  live  :  and  whosoever  liveth,  and  believeth  in  me, 
shall  never  die."  And  again  :  "  If  any  man  keep  my  sayings,  he 
shall  never  see  death."  (Jno.  xi.  25,26,  and  viii.  51.)  This  work 
therefore  of  growing  up  into  Christ  in  all  things,  or  of  rising  in  him  to 
a  new,  spiritual  and  eternal  life  in  immortality  and  in  incorruptibility, 
may  be  begun  while  living  iij  the  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle,  and 
proceed  with  iminterrupted  success,  from  one  degree  to  another,  until 
perfected. 

But  especially  in  the  day  of  Chrisfs  second  appearing,  (the  true 
testimony  of  which  is  now  gone  forth,  and  the  last  trumpet  begun  to 
sound,)  in  the  progress  of  which  all  are  to  come  forth,  those  who  be- 
come properly  awake  to  righteousness  and  the  knowledge  of  God, 
and  travel  into  the  true  life  and  spiritual  work  of  Christ,  far  enough 
to  go  through  the  dissolution  of  the  physical  constitution,  or  death, 
in  common  language,  without  interruption,  or  the  suffering  of  loss, 
shall  not  sleep,  but  go  right  onward  in  their  spiritual  travel,  standing 
as  living  members  of  the  living  body,  and  in  union  with  the  head,  and 
so  pass  through  the  change  from  Adam  to  Christ,  or  of  putting  on 
incorruption  and  immortality,  as  well  as  those  who  had  slept  before 
they  were  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  finishing  work  of  Christ,  and 
had  to  be  awaked  by  the  last  trumpet,  for  the  perfecting  of  the  work 
in  them.  This  was  a  mystery,  a  subject  beyond  their  reach  and  out 
of  their  sight  in  that  day,  in  the  degree  of  travel  which  obtained 
with  them,  until  opened  to  them  by  the  Spirit  of  revelation.  But  to 
suppose  that  all  not  sleeping  means,  that  some  would  be  alive  in 
the  natural  body,  when  the  last  trumpet  should  sound,  and  call  all  to 
judgment  in  a  moment,  and  that  these  should  proceed  to  the  judgment 
without  the  formality  of  dying  and  rising  again  is,  on  that  plan,  were 
that  the  truth,  no  mystery  at  all,  but  a  natural  consequence,  naturally 
deduced,  by  natural  or  common  sense,  from  plain  premises,  perceptible 
and  intelligible  to  the  natural  senses.  But  some  may  insist  that  the 
mystery  consisted  in  the  sudden  and  great  change  which  they  should 
pass  through  in  the  whole  constitution,  fitting  the  bodies  as  well  as  the 
spirits  for  being  inhabitants  of  heaven.  But  the  context  and  con- 
nection will  not  warrant  such  an  explanation  ;  for  he  had  just  before 
asserted,  "  That  flesh  and  blood  [by  which  we  are  inevitably  to  un- 
derstand that  substance  of  which  the  animal  body  consists]  cannot 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God;  neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incor- 
ruption." In  this  sentence  flesh  and  blood,  or  the  animal  body,  is 
put  on  -a  par  with  corruption,  as  though  they  are  both  one,  or,  at 
least,  that  wherever  the  first  can  be,  the  last  may  also  be  expected ; 
accordingly  they  are  both  equally  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  God, 
without  appeal. 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  371 

To  maintain,  therefore,  tliat  the  saying,  "  We  shall  not  all  sleep,  hut 
we  shall  all  be  changed,"  means  that  all  men.  shall  not  put  off  this 
earthly  tabernacle,  but  that  some  shall  experience  a  change  equal  to 
putting  it  off  and  on  again,  and  so  having  it  glorified  in  heaven,  while 
they  remain  constitutionally  or  physically  the  same  beings  which  they 
were  before,  consisting  of  the  same  body  as  well  as  spirit,  is  utterly  un- 
warrantable. For,  that  we  may  take  a  compendious  view  of  some  of 
the  reasons  which  might  be  extracted  from  what  is  already  written, 
in  the  first  place  :  Such  a  construction  of  that  sentence  destroys  the 
apprehension  of  what  is  there  taught  being  a  mystery,  as  before  stated. 
Secondly  :  it  contradicts  the  doctrine  so  fully  taught  in  the  former 
part  of  the  discourse,  that  the  resurrection  promised  in  Christ  is  the 
passing  of  the  creature  from  the  first  Adam  to  the  second.  To  which 
add,  thirdly,  that  when  the  first  Adam  sinned,  he  was  nominated  dust, 
and  sentenced  to  the  dust,  as  his  proper  place,  since  which  time  to  the 
present  there  has  never  appeared  any  satisfactory  or  convincing  proof 
that  he  should  ever  be  recovered,  much  less  be  released,  from  suffer- 
ing the  dissolution  :  "  It  is  appointed  to  men  once  to  die."  That  that 
denunciation  was  specially  against  the  animal  body  is  evident,  for  the 
spirit  is  not  dust,  and  is  not  consigned  to  it,  but  remains  susceptible  of 
a  renovation  and  resurrection  in  Christ,  the  second  man.  But,  to  re- 
turn to  the  argument : 

It  is  unwarrantable,  in  matters  of  the  last  importance,  to  build  on  the 
figurative  language  of  prophecy  without  more  satisfactory  testimony, 
especially  where  the  language  bears  a  proper  and  consistent  meaning 
without  teaching  such  things  as  are  sought  for  from  it.  Therefore 
add,  fourthly,  that  this  sentence  bears  a  very  proper  acceptation  with- 
out meaning  simply  or  mainly  the  death  of  the  body.  For  although 
the  term  sleep,  when  used  metaphorically  in  the  Scriptures,  frequently 
means  the  death  of  the  body,  yet  not  universally  ;  as  in  these  words, 
(Eph.  V.  14,)  "  Awake  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead, 
and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light."  It  is  evident  that  the  sleeping  has 
no  respect  to  the  death  of  the  body,  but  to  the  insensibility  and  inat- 
tention of  the  mind  to  spiritual  affairs — to  being  asleep,  or  dead,  in 
trespasses  and  in  sins.  At  the  same  time  it  is  not  a  reasonable  sup- 
position that  the  Apostle  had  respect  merely  to  being  asleep  in  sin 
when  he  said.  We  shall  not  all  sleep  ;  for  in  that  sense  it  would  not  be 
in  all  respects  true,  as  that  is  the  natural  state  of  all ;  and  also,  as  he 
says.  We  shall  not  all  sleep,  he  has  evidently  a  particular  respect  to 
believers,  and  to  that  state  into  which  those  pass  at  the  dissolution  of 
the  natural  life  who  have  not  become  sufficiently  alive  to  God  and  ex- 
perienced in  the  regeneration  to  travel  directly  onward  with  those 
who  were  in  the  holy  city  before  them.  And  as  the  work  of  Christ 
was  justly  expected  to  be  a  deeper  and  more  thorough  work,  in  the 
sounding  of  the  last  trumpet,  or  in  his  second  appearing,  than  at  any 
time  before,  all  should  not  sleep,  but  all  should  then  be  changedj 

In  defence  of  the  resurrection  of  the  earthly  body,  and  its  transla- 
tion into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  an  instantaneous  and  mechani- 
cal exertion  of  Divine  power,  great  stress  probably  will  be  laid  by 
some  on  these  words,  "  In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at 
the  last  trump  :  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be 
raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be  changed."     It  cannot  be  denied, 


372  OF    THE    RESURRECTION. 

with  any  plausibility,  that  the  change  which  those  experience  who 
do  not  sleep  is  the  same  which  those  also  experience  who  have 
been  dead,  or  asleep,  (for  the  two  words  mean  the  same  characters,) 
or,  in  other  words,  they  undergo  such  a  change  as  to  make  them 
equal,  and  set  them  in  the  same  situation  with  those  who  had  been 
dead.  "  We  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed — the 
dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be  changed.  For  this 
corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  must  put  on  im- 
mortality;"  consequently  must  put  off  the  contrary,  for  in  that  day  the 
work  is  to  be  finished  and  perfect.  The  dead  shall  be  raised  incor- 
ruptible— alive  in  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  in  whom  there  is  no  corruption 
— free  from  the  flesh  and  all  its  inherent  and  attendant  corruption — 
to  be  forever  with  Christ  and  like  him,  now  no  more  to  return  to  cor- 
ruption. 

The  Apostle  has  not,  in  this  place,  shown,  whence  the  dead  arise, 
as  to  locality,  or  whence  they  shall  come,  who  have  been  asleep,  but 
in  another  description  of  the  same  period  and  of  the  same  events, 
(1  Thess.  iv.  13-17,)  he  has  shown  whence  they  come,  that  when 
Christ  comes,  they  come  with  him.  "  But  I  would  not  have  you 
ignorant,  brethren,  concerning  those  who  are  asleep,  that  ye  sorrow 
not,  even  as  others  who  have  no  hope.  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus 
died,  and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  who  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God 
bring  with  him.  For  this  we  say  to  you  by  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
That  we  who  are  alive,  and  remain  until  the  coming  of  the  Lord, 
shall  not  prevent  [go  before]  those  who  are  asleep.  For  the  Lord 
himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of 
the  archangel  and  with  the  trump  of  G-od ;  and  the  dead  in  Christ 
shall  rise  first.  Then  [sVsira,  afterwards,]  we  who  are  alive  and 
remain,  shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds  to  meet 
the  Lord  in  the  air  :  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord."  This 
statement  does  not  well  accord  with  the  common  notion,  that  Christ 
must  first  come  and  raise  the  saints  out  of  the  earth  before  they  can 
be  with  him  in  the  execution  of  judgment,  but  it  accords  with  the 
Spirit  of  inspiration,  and  all  sentiments  and  notions  must  yield  to  that. 
Those  then  who  had  slept  in  Jesus,  or  the  dead  in  Christ,  are  raised 
to  life  in  Christ,  before  those  who  are  alive  and  remain  are  called 
forth  into  the  same  work  and  by  the  sounding  of  the  same  trumpet, 
and  sit  with  him  and  act  for  him  in  the  prosecution  of  his  work, 
toward  those  who  are  alive  and  remain,  as  well  as  with  those  who  slept 
in  sin.  As  it  is  also  written  in  another  place  :  "  Do  ye  not  know  that 
the  saints  shall  judge  the  world  ;"  (1  Cor.  vi.  2  ;)  for  "The  dead  in 
Christ  shall  rise  first,  and  afterwards  we  that  are  alive  and  remain 
shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air." 
But  "those  who  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him;"  which 
shows  how  they  are  raised  ;  in  the  Spirit  as  Christ  also  was,  and  thus 
they  are  like  him  :  as  he  was  put  to  death  in  the  flesh  and  quickened 
in  the  Spirit,  so  are  they.  These  things  also  show,  that  there  is  a 
progressive  work  in  the  resurrection,  for  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise 
first.  Neither  is  there  any  thing  in  this  whole  description  at  all  incon- 
sistent with  the  statement  made  above.  That  the  true  resurrection  in 
Christ,  is  the  passing  out  of  the  first  Adam  into  the  second.  The 
shout,  the  voice  of  the  archangel  and  the  trump  of  God,  are  bold 


OP    THE    RESURRECTION.  373 

prophetic  figures,  aptly  expressing  tlie  vigorous  and  zealous  propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  calling  the  human  family  out  of  the  flesh  into  the 
Spirit — out  of  the  first  Adam  into  Christ — out  of  death  into  eternal 
and  incorruptible  life.  The  first  Adam  is  corrupt  and  mortal,  without 
any  promise  of  ever  being  better ;  consequently,  all  those  who  stand 
united  with  him  in  his  peculiar  order,  in  any  part.  Spirit  or  matter, 
are  proportionably  corrupt  and  mortal.  But  Christ  Jesus,  the 
second  Adam,  is  life  and  immortality  as  in  the  abstract ;  those  there- 
fore who  are  perfectly  renewed  into  Christ  in  all  things,  have  put  on 
incorruption  and  immortality ;  "  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in 
Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive." 

With  respect  to  the  peculiar  phraseology,  "  in  a  moment,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump ;"  nothing  special  or  defini- 
tive can  be  inferred  from  it,  as  to  the  length  of  the  time  in  which  the 
work  will  be  accomplishing.  For  although  the  peculiarity  of  the 
Apostle's  genius,  the  Spirit  of  the  day  and  dispensation,  being  full  of 
the  elevated  strain,  or  style  of  prophecy,  and  the  peculiar  gift  of  re- 
velation made  to  him,  justify  such  bold  figures  in  his  writings,  (for 
although  the  indolent,  earthly  and  contracted  mind,  may  announce 
that  mysterious,  symbolical  and  abstruse  method  of  writing,  unfair, 
even  in  an  Apostle,  it  remains  true  that  according  to  the  wisdom 
given  to  him  he  has  written  in  all  his  epistles,  speaking  in  .them  of 
these  things ;  in  which  are  some  things  hard  to  be  understood,  which 
they  that  are  unlearned  and  unstable,  but  not  the  wise  towards  God, 
the  faithful  and  self-denying,  wrest,  as  they  do  also  the  other  Scrip- 
tures, to  their  own  destruction,)  nothing  can  be  known  definitively 
by  such  language  in  a  gift  of  prophecy,  how  long,  until  the  same 
Spirit  who  gave  it,  open  it  up  in  the  fulfillment  of  the  work,  or  by 
other  suitable  explication  from  himself.  We  read  of  a  moment,  an 
hour,  half  an  hour,  a  day,  three  days  and  an  half,  and  a  thousand 
years,  but  all  are  mysterious  and  symbolical  enpressions,  unknown, 
as  to  the  certainty  of  the  time  designed  thereby,  until  unfolded  by 
the  same  Spirit.  And  although  it  be  granted,  as  a  reasonable  thought, 
that  a  moment  or  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  means  a  much  shorter 
time  than  a  day  or  a  year ;  and  not  saying  how  suddenly  the  work 
may  be  understood  to  commence  in  its  introduction,  or  with  each  in- 
dividual in  its  progress,  these  things  cannot  prove  any  thing  defini- 
tively, as  to  the  space  of  time  during  which  the  last  and  finishing  work 
of  Christ,  the  work  of  the  resurrection  and  the  judgment,  will  pro- 
gress and  continue. 

I  know  of  no  principle  in  all  which  has  been  said,  in  the  nature  of 
the  work  itself,  or  in  the  various  Scripture  accounts  of  it,  to  contra- 
dict its  being  introduced  suddenly  ;  every  work  however  durable  must 
have  a  beginning  ;  but  that  is  not  to  contradict  its  after  increase  ; 
and  to  suppose  that  the  words.  In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  are  a  literal  proof  that  the  resurrection  and  consequent  change 
are  to  be  accomplished  literally  in  that  period  of  time,  is  probably 
more  than  any  man  will  believe  on  a  deliberate  view  of  the  subject. 
Besides,  such  an  acceptation  of  those  words  would  set  this  verse  at 
variance  with  itself;  for,  in  perfect  agreement  with  the  other  Scrip- 
ture which  we  lately  considered,  it  gives  the  dead  in  Christ  the  fore- 
way  in  the  resurrection.     It  would  also  set  this  text  at  variance  with 


374  OP    THE    EESURRECTEON. 

almost,  if  not  entirely,  every  other  text  on  that  subject,  which  it 
would  be  too  great  a  digression  from  the  subject  in  hand  to  show  at 
length  in  this  place.  One  passage  however,  I  think  it  expedient  to 
notice  here,  which  the  aforesaid  acceptation  would  contradict.  I 
notice  it  here,  because  it  is  in  this  chapter,  on  which  I  am  now  treat- 
ing, and  was  omitted  in  treating  of  the  sentences  immediately  con- 
nected with  it,  with  the  peculiar  impression  of  introducing  it  here.  The 
words  are  in  connection  with  some  which  have  been  freely  used  al- 
ready ;  "  For  as  in  Adam  ail  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made 
alive.  But  every  man  in  his  own  order  ;  Christ  the  first-fruits  ; 
afterward  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming.  Then  cometh  the 
end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even 
the  Father  :  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule  and  all  authority 
and  power.  For  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under 
his  feet.  The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death."  Here 
is  evidently  a  succession  of  events  described  by  the  same  language 
as  one  part  of  the  successive  appearances  of  Christ  to^his  disciples  ; 
"  After  that  [iTfsira]  he  was  seen  of  James  ;  then  [s/ra]  of  all  the 
apostles  ;"  so  here,  "  Christ  the  first  fruits  ;  jifterward  [&Vsi=ra] 
they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming.  Then  [siVa,  after,  not  toVs, 
at  that  time,]  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father,  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all 
rule  and  all  authority  and  power.  For  he  must  reign,  [to  wit,  after  he 
has  come,]  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet.  The  last  ene- 
my that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death.  And  when  all  things  shall  be 
subdued  unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subject  to  him 
that  did  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all."  How 
long  his  reign  will  be  before  he  has  conquered  all  his  enemies  and 
fitted  out  the  kingdom  to  deliver  it  up  to  the  Father,  is  yet  to  learn, 
but  we  have  sufficient  reason  to  believe  it  will  be  longer  than  a  mo- 
ment or  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  It  is  once  stated,  though  still  in  the 
language  and  style  of  prophecy,  that  it  will  be  a  thousand  years  or 
more.  But  all  this  will  not  contradict  the  expectation  that  the  work 
will  be  short  and  speedy  in  deciding  the  case  with  individuals  as  they 
come  forward  in  their  own  order — a  short  work,  cut  short  in  righteous- 
ness, giving  every  one  an  ofiTer,  a  fair  trial,  and  when  he  has  made  his 
choice,  dealing  with  him  accordingly.     But  to  retin-n  : 

"  So  when  this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on  incorruption,  and  this 
mortal  shall  have  put  on  immortality,  then  shall  be  brought  to  pass 
the  saying  that  is  written.  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory."  It 
has  been  suf&ciently  proved,  that  this  great  and  happy  change  is  ef- 
fected by  the  Gospel  in  the  work  of  regeneration,  or  coming  out  of 
the  first  Adam  where  is  mortality  and  death,  into  Christ  who  is 
immortality  and  life.  Accordingly  it  is  written  in  another  place  : 
"  Whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh  the  world  ;  and  this  is  the 
victory  that  overcometh  the  world  even  our  faith."   (1  Jno.  v.  4.) 

Not  foreign  from  this  point  are  the  words  of  Christ  to  the  Jews, 
(Jno.  V.  25,  &c.)  "  The  hour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  they  that  hear  shall 
live."  According  to  these  words  the  time  of  raising  the  dead  had 
then  come,  and  also  the  time  of  executing  judgment,  as  the  follow- 
ing words  show  ;  but  these  things  only  in  part,  as  a  prelude  and  ex- 


OF    THE    RESURRECTION.  375 

ample  of  that  wMch  was  to  come  ;  for  the  time  was  coming  as  well 
as  then  present.  "  For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself,  so  hath  he 
given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in  himself,  and  hath  given  him  authori- 
ty also  to  execute  judgment,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  man."  Thus 
wherever  the  Gospel  is,  there  is  the  judgment.  "  Now  is  the  judg- 
ment of  this  world,  now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  he  cast  out. 
And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 
(Jno.  xii.  31,  32.)  And  again:  "  For  the  time  is  come  that  judg-. 
ment  must  begin  at  the  house  of  God."  (1  Pet.  iv.  17.)  But, 
"  Marvel  not  at  this  ;  [which  is  now  doing,  which  is  only  the  begin- 
ning ;]  for  the  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  [the  work  by  the  same 
word  of  power  shall  be  so  extensive  that]  all  that  are  in  their  graves 
shall  hear  his  voice  and  shall  come  forth,  they  that  have  done  good 
to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil  to  the  resur- 
rection of  damnation."  Each  to  be  judged  and  receive  his  reward 
according  to  his  doings.  But  observe.  They  shall  come  forth  to  the 
resurrection,  so  that  each  one  as  he  comes  forth  has  a  fair  and  deci- 
sive choice  to  make,  into  which  resurfection  eventually  to  enter; 
according  to  what  is  again  written  :  "  And  I  saw  another  angel  fly  in 
the  midst  of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting  Gospel  to  preach  to  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  saying  with  a  loud  voice.  Fear  God,  and  give  glory  to 
him  ;  for  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come  :  and  worship  him  that 
made  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  fountains  of  waters." 
(Rev.  xiv.  6,  7.)  Here  the  Gospel  is  expressly  announced  as  going 
forth  with  the  judgment ;  accordingly  every  one  who  is  waked  up 
and  called  forth  has  an  equitable  opportunity  to  make  choice,  whether 
he  will  fear  God  and  give  glory  to  him  or  not.  Herein  is  the  work  of 
the  first  resurrection  ;  and  blessed  is  he  whosoever  is  prevailed  upon 
to  enter  into  it.  It  may  be  objected,  as  it  has  been  done  already, 
that  this  test  is  prophetic  and  metaphorical.  But  the  reply  is  natural 
and  easy  ;  That  as  this  is  prophetic  and  metaphorical,  so  is  that 
which  is  alleged  in  defence  of  the  suddenness  of  the  change  by  a 
mechanical  agency. 

When  the  Apostle  had  proved  out  the  truth  of  the  resurrection, 
shown  the  manner  of  it,  and  such  other  things  as  he  saw  proper  to 
state  in  conjunction  with  it,  he  breaks  out  into  an  exultation.  "  O 
death  !  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave  !"  [Hades,  the  receptacle  of 
departed  spirits,  not  the  tomb  into  which  the  body  is  laid,]  "  where 
is  thy  victory  .''"  [Thou  takest  the  spirit  of  all  men,  but  being  in 
Christ  who  is  our  life,  and  with  whom  our  life  is  hid  securely  in  God, 
we  arise  to  a  better  and  more  glorious  life  which  is  eternal  and  free 
from  corruption.]  "  The  sting  of  death  is  sin  ;  and  the  strength  of 
sin  is  the  law.  But  thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  who  was  born  of  a  woman,  born 
under  the  law,  that  he  might  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law, 
that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons — who  has  also  borne  our 
sins  on  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  and  opened  the  new  and  living  way 
through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh,  that  he  might  lead  us  out 
of  all  sin  and  the  wages  of  it,  into  the  new  and  spiritual  life  in  him- 
self— The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death.     When  sin  is 


376  OF   THE   KESURRECTION. 

all  removed,  and  death  is  destroyed,  then  the  resurrection  and  the 
life  shall  reign  triumphantly,  and  remain  forever. 

Other  Scriptures  might  be  introduced  to  illustrate  the  same  point : 
that  the  resurrection  promised  in  Christ  is  the  same  work  of  the  re- 
generation, or  passing  from  the  first  Adam  into  Christ  who  is  the 
Lord  from  heaven,  a  quickening  Spirit,  in  whom  all  his  people  are 
made  alive,  and  become  spiritual.  That  which  is  of  the  flesh  is 
flesh  ;  or  it  is  corruption  ;  for  that  which  a  man  soweth  shall  he  also 
reap  ;  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  cor- 
ruption, or  flesh ;  the  body  of  flesh  therefore  cannot  produce  a  spirit- 
ual body.  But  that  which  is  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit ;  they  therefore 
who  are  born  of  the  Spirit,  or  are  regenerated  into  Christ  who  is 
a  quickening  Spirit,  are  spiritual  and  inherit  spiritual  bodies,  of  in- 
corruption  and  immortality.  Should  any  feel  dissatisfied  with  the 
application  which  is  made  of  Paul's  discourse  on  the  resurrection 
and  think  they  could  apply  it  more  correctly,  they  may  consider 
that  if  the  day  is  come,  they  who  are  in  the  work  may  begin  to  un- 
derstand ;  for  the  wise  shall  understand ;  but  they  who  are  not  in 
the  work,  in  the  true  spirit,  cannot ;  for  none  of  the  wicked  shall  un- 
derstand. But  if  the  day  and  time  of  the  resurrection  be  not  come, 
no  man  can  understand  the  things  which  are  written  of  it ;  for  it  never 
was  the  intention  of  prophetic  language  that  it  should  be  understood 
until  the  time  of  the  fulfillment,  and  by  those  who  possess  the  same 
Spirit  of  God  by  whom  it  was  given  and  by  whose  operations  the  work 
is  accomplished.  "  Knowing  this  first,  that  no  prophecy  of  the 
Scriptures  is  of  any  private  interpretation.  For  the  prophecy  came 
not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man  ;  but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Without  the  teachings,  there- 
fore, of  the  same  Spirit,  no  man  can  understand  the  Scripture  pro- 
phecy; and  just  where  that  Spirit  applies  it,Jthe  application  is  correct, 
and  can  be  seen  to  agree  with  the  prophecy :  for  the  Spirit  is  truth. 
Should  any  inquire ;  On  this  view  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  any  can 
venture  to  make  so  bold  an  application  as  the  above,  of  that  prophe- 
cy, written  by  Paul,  on  the  resurrection  }  I  answer  ;  Because  the  day 
is  come  ;  the  resurrection  has  begun ;  many  have  risen  with  Christ 
and  walk  with  him  in  white  ;  To  those  who  look  for  him  and  are  will- 
ing to  receive  him,  he  has  appeared  the  second  time  without  sin  un- 
to salvation.  To  them  that  fear  God,  the  Sun  of  righteousness  has 
arisen  with  healing  in  his  beams,  and  is  shining  as  clear  as  the  noon- 
day sun.  The  Sun  of  righteousness  shows  us  what  is  the  mystery — 
that  we  shall  not  all  sleep  ;  and  in  what  manner  the  spiritual  body, 
which  was  not  first  is  obtained  in  Christ  ;  and  what  is  the  nature  of 
that  resurrection  to  which  the  Apostle  strove,  that  if  by  any  means  he 
might  attain. 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  377 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OF  THE  LAST  JUDGMENT  ;  BY  WAY  OP  APPENDIX  TO  THE  PORE- 
GOING  CHAPTERS. 

The  resurrection  and  judgment  are  so  intimately  connected,  that 
a  full  discussion  of  the  first  is  not  to  be  expected  without  including 
many  things  pertaining  to  the  last.  Accordingly,  in  the  preceding 
discourse,  to  interfere  with  the  judgment  was  unavoidable.  But  it 
being  inconsistent  with  the  purpose  of  that  discourse,  to  say  as  much 
on  some  parts  of  Scripture  which  naturally  come  into  view,  in  dis- 
cussing those  subjects,  as  would  give  satisfaction  without  digressing 
too  far  from  the  leading  proposals,  I  have  concluded  to  add  a  few 
pages  by  way  of  appendix  descanting  on  the  resurrection  or  judg- 
ment as  either  may  interfere,  but  intending  to  touch  mostly  on  the 
latter.  And  no  Scripture  appears  better  adapted  to  introduce  the 
subject  than  that  on  which  so  much  has  been  already  written.  "  In 
a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump ;  for  the 
trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and 
we  shall  be  changed."  (1  Cor.  xv.  52.) 

In  this  text  are  to  be  noticed :  First,  the  transaction  to  take 
place  ;  The  trumpet  shall  sound — the  last  trumpet.  Secondly,  The 
effects  to  follow  ;  The  dead  to  be  raised  incorruptible ;  or  the  sleep- 
ing awaked  ;  and  the  living  to  be  changed.  Thirdly,  The  time  and 
space  in  which  these  matters  are  to  be  effected  ;  In  a  moment,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye.     And, 

First.  Of  the  transaction  to  take  place— the  sounding  of  the  last 
trumpet. 

This  is  the  only  place  in  Scripture,  where  the  phrase,  last  trumpet, 
is  used  in  relation  to  this  scene.  And  I  know  no  reason  beyond  con- 
jecture, or  the  combination  of  human  conceptions  transferred  from 
one  to  another,  to  fix  any  impressions  on  the  minds  of  professed  Chris- 
tians, why  this  last  trumpet  should  be  any  other  than  the  seventh, 
spoken  of  in  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  evident  from  the  manner  in  which 
the  sacred  penmen  have  written,  that  they  did  not  judge  it  necessa- 
ry, to  describe  minutely  every  circumstance  attending  that  scene,  on 
every  occasion  when  they  spake  of  it,  neither  always  to  describe  it  in 
the  same  words :  or,  in  other  words  ;  It  did  not  appear  necessary, 
to  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  show  them  all  things  minutely  and  at  all 
times. 

In  the  text  now  before  us  there  is  no  mention  of  whose  trumpet 
it  is,  or  by  whom  sounded.  But  other  Scriptures  descriptive  of  the 
same  scene  afford  information  on  that  particular.  In  the  epistle  to 
the  Thessalonians  it  is  announced  by  these  terms  ;  "  For  the  Lord 
himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  [xsXsurffx-aT; ;  ex- 
pressing the  exhortation  or  command  given  by  sailors,]  with  the 
voice  of  the  archangel  and  with  the  trump  of  Gody  In  the  de- 
scription of  the  same  scene  by  Jesus  himself,  (Matt.  xxiv.  31,)  it  is 
said ;  "  And  he  shall  send  his  angels  with  the  sound  of  a  gredt  trum- 


378  OP    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

pety     Thus  by  a  comparison  of  those   Scriptures  which  speak  of 
Christ's  coming  attended  by  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  it  appears  that 
the  trump  of  God,  or  of  Christ,  is  that  which  the  angels  sound.     And 
that  these  angels  are  messengers  of  God  to  the  people,  and  that  the 
message  which  they  bring  is  the  Gospel  of  Christ  for  the  salvation  of 
all  whosoever  will  hear  and  obey  it,  (for  that  is  no  Gospel  which  does 
not  contain  the  privilege  and  power  of  salvation,)  will  appear  by  com- 
paring the  above  with  another  Scripture  descriptive  of  the  same  tre- 
mendous   scene — the   commencement  of   the  last  judgment.   (Rev. 
xiv.  6,  7.)  "  And  I  saw  another  angel  fly  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  hav- 
ing  the    everlasting   Gospel    to  preach  to  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people, 
saying,  with  a  loud  voice,  Fear   God  and  give  glory  to  him;   for 
the  hour  of   his  judgment  is  come;    and  worship  him  that  made 
heaven,  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  fountains  of  waters."     In 
this    description  the   vision   is    one  angel.       Thus  an  angel  with  a 
message,  angels  with  the  sound  of  a  great  trumpet,  the  voice  of  the 
archangel  and  the  tru.mp   of  God,  as  well  as  the   Lord  with  a  shout, 
are  all  introduced  to  communicate  the  same  information.     On  which 
we  may  iinhesitatingly  observe,  that  no  man  can  produce  the  smallest 
authority,  that  any  one  of  them,  or  any  other  prophecy  of  that  day, 
is  a  literal  description  of  the  appearances  and  transactions  to  which 
they  relate.     But  as  they  are  all  apt  figures  to  represent  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  as  before  hinted,  and  whereas  the  scene  of  the  last 
quotation  was  last  shown,  in  late  days,  consecjuently  nearest  the  time 
of  the  accomplishment,  and  to  one  to  whom  future  events  were  shown 
in  a  singular  manner,  and  as  this  testimony  is  expressly,  .that  this  loud 
voice,  shout,  or  trumpet,  whichever  it  be  called,  is  the  everlasting 
Gospel,  (and  can  we  expect  the  tidings  of  the  last  day  to  be  any  thing 
less  favourable  than  God  has  said  })  may  we  not  with  confidence  and 
safety  conclude,  from  these  premises  and  in  perfect  consistency  with 
an  acquaintance  with  the  work  in  the  present  day,  that  all  these  sym- 
bolical representations  uniformly  point  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  his 
Church,  and  going  forth  to  the  people  on  the  earth,  in  his  angels  or 
ministers  }     And  as  in  the  first  dispensation  of  Christ  the  judgment 
went  with  the  Gospel,  as  before  shown,  it  is  not  unreasonable  that  the 
last  judgment  of  the  world — the  final  casting  out  of  the  prince  of  this 
world,  should  usher  in  with  the  everlasting  Gospel.     At  least,  such 
is  the  statement  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  I  must  be  allowed  to  believe 
them  until  I  find  more  competent  authority.     And  in  addition  to  the 
truth  of  God,  that  judge  of  all  the  earth,  who  will  do  all  things  right, 
and  who  invites  mankind  to  reason  with  him  on  fair  and  equitable  princi- 
ples, I  can  appeal  to  the  common  sense  of  every  man ;  to  the  un- 
biassed feelings  of  every  heart ;  to  the  receptacle  of  light  and  evi- 
dence, and  the  comparer  of  evidences  in  every  man,  whether  it  be 
not  more  equitable  than. any  thing  which  can  be  proposed  to  the  con- 
trary, to  give  every  one  a  fair  trial  by  ushering  in  the  Gospel  as  a 
concomitant  of  the  judgment,  allowing  to  every  one  the  privilege  of 
confessing   all  his  sins,  laying  down  his  rebellion,  and  bearing  his 
cross  in  obedience  and  self-denial ;  and  whether  any  thing  could  be 
imagined  more  unequal,  than  to  arraign  a  man  and  condemn  him 
finally  and  irrecoverably,  for  having  not  done  his  duty,  in  a  situation 


OP    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  379' 

in  wMcli  lie  could  neither  know  nor  have  any  power  to  do  it,  or  for  • 
doing  that  which  he  had  no  power  to  avoid,  or  knowledge  of  its  being 
evil ;  and  his  inability  all  this  time  invincible  in  his  situation.  And 
it  is  abundantly  evident,  that  by  far  the  majority,  thousands  and  mil- 
lions of  those  who  are  and  who  have  been,  knew  not  the  will  of  God, 
and  had  no  possible  way  to  know  it,  and  therefore  could  not  possibly 
do  it :  and  at  the  same  time,  none  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  except  those  who  do  the  will  of  God.  "  Not  every  one  that 
saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ; 
but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  "  Bu-t  he 
who  knew  not  (his  Lord's  will),  and  did  commit  things  worthy  of 
stripes,  shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes;"  yet  he  is  beaten,  and 
therefore  not  clear. 

Now  let  us  inquire,  what  there  is,  in  any  or  all  the  representations 
of  the  last  day,  or  judgment,  by  which  they  can  be  proved  to  be  at 
all  different  from  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse. Nothing  can  be  argued  from  the  suddenness  and  quick  ac- 
complishment in  any  of  those  representations ;  for  although  in  this 
BO  mention  is  made  of  a  moment  or  an  hour,  the  work  is  described 
as  being  as  instantaneous  and  momentary  as  language  can  point  it 
out ;  even  as  quick  as  the  trumpet  gave  the  blast.  "  And  the  seventh 
angel  sounded ;  and  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying.  The 
kingdoms  of  this  World  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and 
of  his  Christ  5  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever."  (Rev.  xi.  15.) 
Neither  can  any  thing  be  shown  in  the  sounding  of  this  seventh 
trumpet,  by  which  it  can  be  proved  to  fall  short  of  the  general  and 
last  judgment  ;  for  no  language  could  more  forcibly  paint  that^im- 
portant  day,  in  respect  t(»  the  things  which  were  shown  to  take  place 
in  the  time  of  it  ;  as  to  the  setting  up  of  that  kingdom  of  God  in 
which  he  is  to  reign  forever  and  ever  ;  and  added  to  this.  The 
wrath  of  God  on  the  nations,  the  dead  raised,  his  servants  rewarded 
and  his  enemies  destroyed.  "  And  the  four-and-twenty  Elders,  who 
sat  before  God,  on  their  seats,  fell  upon  their  faces,  and  worshipped 
God,  saying.  We  give  thee  thanks,  O  Lord  God  Almighty,  which  art, 
and  wast,  and  art  to  come  ;  because  thou  hast  taken  to  thee  thy  great 
power  and  hast  reigned.  And  the  nations  were  angry,  and  thy 
wrath  is  come,  and  the  time  of  the  dead,  that  they  should  be 
judged,  and  that  thou  shouldest  give  reward  to  thy  servants  the 
prophets,  and  to  the  saints,  and  them  that  fear  thy  name,  small  and 
great ;  and  shouldest  destroy  them  that  destroy  the  earth." 

At  the  same  time,  there  is  nothing  in  the  sounding  of  this  seventh 
angel,  to  contradict  its  being  the  ushering  in  of  the  everlasting  Gos- 
pel, to  make  final  settlement  with  all  people,  and  to  reward  them  ac- 
cording to  their  works  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  to  give  every  one  a  fair 
trial  of  access  to  God  in  his  holy  temple,  to  obtain  forgiveness  on  the 
same  principle  with  others:  with  God  is  no  respect  of  persons.  "  And 
the  temple  of  God  was  opened  in  heaven,  and  there  was  seen  in  his 
temple  the  ark  of  his  testament ;  and  there  were  lightnings,  and  voices, 
and  thunderings,  and  an  earthquake,  and  great  hail." 

According  to  the  general  representations  given  of  God,  by  pro- 
fessed Christians,  he  is  the  most  unjust  of  all  judges,  who  will  take  a 
man  to  an  account,  and  condemn  him  irrecoverably,  for  not  having 


380  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

done  tis  duty,  when  he  had  neither  knowledge  nor  power  to  do  it 
Whereas  it  is  always  honourable  in  a  judge  or  potentate,  to  publish  a 
universal  amnesty  to  those  who  have  been  in  rebellion,  although  with 
the  fullest  knowledge  of  it,  on  the  condition  of  confessing  their  wrongs 
and  becoming  obedient  subjects  ;  and  it  is  justly  esteemed  cruel  to  do 
otherwise. 

On  the  contrary ;  some  seeing,  in  a  measure,  the  unreasonableness 
of  the  prevalent  notions  concerning  the  judgment  of  God,  and  at  the 
same  time  ignorant  of  the  terms  of  pardon  and  acceptance,  or  un- 
willing to  submit  when  informed,  have  fallen  into  the  opposite  ex- 
treme ;  and  believe,  or  affect  to  believe,  that  men  will  all  be  accepted 
of  God  in  doing  what  they  conclude  is  right,  each  one  for  one,  and 
thus  annul  the  will  of  God  and  his  judgment  altogether,  subject- 
ing him  to  the  judgment  of  every  man,  and  requiring  him  to  sanction 
whatever  course  of  life  each  man  says  in  bis  mind  is  right.  This  scheme 
serves  for  a  temporary  plaster  on  the  conscience  ;  but  that  only  partial, 
because  none  of  that  faith  are  able  to  lead  such  a  life,  as  to  have  the 
unreserved  approbation  of  their  own  consciences  in  all  things.  I  speak 
especially  of  those  who  acknowledge  the  truth  and  necessity  of  Chris- 
tianity. This  scheme  therefore  must  fall  to  the  ground,  and  make  way 
for  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  that  nothing  can  include  the  title  to  eternal 
life,  short  of  knowing  the  will  of  God  and  doing  it,  as  stated  above. 

Another  matter  makes  it  appear  reasonable,  not  to  say  unavoidable, 
that  the  judgment  should  be  in  union  with  the  Gospel,  or  included  in  it, 
and  consequently  that  the  everlasting  Gospel  should  usher  in,  together 
w^ith  the  last  judgment,  which  is,  that  the  Gospel  cannot  have  its  pro- 
per and  full  effect  without  it.  The  effect,  or  end,  of  the  Gospel  is  a  full 
acquittal,  or  remission  of  sins,  with  acceptance  with  God  in  justification 
and  peace.  But  as  no  man  can  be  justly  condemned  until  he  is  tried, 
so  neither  can  any  be  justified,  or  acquitted  ;  and  no  man  can  be  tried 
before  the  time  of  trial ,  or  day  of  judgment.  This  shows  the  inconsistency 
and  the  flimsy  foundation  of  those  professors,  who  boast,  or  even  hope, 
that  they  are  justified  of  God,  and  yet  expect  to  come  to  the  judgment, 
and  have  their  character  examined  and  their  final  condition  fixed,  ac- 
cording to  an  order  of  judgment  yet  unknown. 

But  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  angel  is  acknowledged  to  have  been 
going  on  a  considerable  time  already  ;  consequently,  it  will  not  be  de- 
nied, that  the  Gospel  is  preached  during  that  time.  So  likewise  it  will 
have  to  be  granted,  that  the  Gospel  is  preached  during  the  time  of  which 
Christ  spake,  saying,  "And  he  shall  send  his  angels  with  a  great  sound 
of  a  trumpet,  and  they  shall  gather  together  his  elect,  from  the  four 
winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other."  "  But  of  that  day  and 
hour  knoweth  no  man,  [before  its  commencement,]  no,  not  the  angels 
of  heaven,  but  my  Father  only."  (This  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  day 
and  hour  of  judgment.)  But  as  the  days  of  Noah,  so  shall  also  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be, or,  and  as  "  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noah,  so  shall 
it  be  also  in  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man."  (Luke  xvii.  26.)  "For  as  in 
the  days  that  were  before  the  flood,  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  mar- 
rying and  giving  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noah  entered  into  the 
ark,  and  knew  not  until  the  flood  came  and  took  them  all  away ;  so 
shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be."  (Matt.  xxiv.  31,  36-39.) 
Now  in  the  days  of  Noah  he  was  a  preacher  of  righteousness  to  the 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  381 

people  ;  so  in  the  coming  or  days  of  the  Son  of  man,  the  Gospel  shall 
be  preached  until  the  work  is  finished,  and  the  angels  or  ministers  of 
Christ  have  gathered  in  the  elect,  the  faithful  and  obedient,  from  under 
the  whole  heaven,  and  he  has  fitted  out  the  kingdom  ready  to  be  deliv- 
ered up  to  the  Farther. 

Observe  ;  It  is  not  said,  as  in  the  day  that  Noah  entered  into  the  ark, 
so  shall  the  coming,  or  days,  of  the  Son  of  man  be  ;  but  it  is  expressly 
stated,  as  in  the  days  that  were  before  the  flood  ;  and  this  continued 
until  the  day  of  entering  in,  when  he  had  fulfilled  to  them  his  commission, 
and  the  people  being  disobedient  were  swept  away  ;  so  shall  it  be  in  the 
day  of  the  Son  of  man  ;  those  who  are  obedient  to  the  everlasting,  or 
finishing  Gospel,  shall  be  kept  safe  in  the  ark,  as  Noah  and  his  family 
were,  while  the  disobedient  and  impenitent  shall  be  swept  away. 

However  energetic  the  language,  which  describes  the  day  of  judgment, 
there  is  no  description  of  it  at  all  incompatible  with  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel successfully  in  the  time  of  it.  For  although  in  the  process  of  the 
time  the  judgment  is  certain,  and  it  will  also  come  as  a  snare  on  all  the 
earth,  and  there  can  be  no  escape  ;  when  the  nature  of  the  language  used 
in  the  Scripture,  relating  to  that  day,  is  considered,  it  cannot  be  proved, 
that  the  process  will  be  too  swift  for  the  successful  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  Thus  when  it  is  said,  "  That  the  day  of  the  Lord  so  cometh 
as  a  thief  in  the  night.  For  when  they  shall  say,  peace  and  safety,  then 
sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  them,  as  travail  upon  a  woman  with 
child  ;  and  they  shall  not  escape."  (1  Thess.  v.  2,  3.)  This  is  very 
forcible  language ;  but  any  one  of  moderate  understanding  may  see, 
that  it  does  not  describe  a  momentary,  or  instantaneous  accomplishment. 
For  however  suddenly  and  suprisingly  the  travail  of  a  woman  with 
child  may  in  some  cases  commence,  it  is  not  suddenly  over ;  and  the  wo- 
man has  the  encouraging  prospect  of  being  delivered  from  the  distress 
after  the  birth,  and  of  being  more  happy  than  before  her  travail  came 
on.  "  A  woman  when  she  is  in  travail  hath  sorrow  because  her  hour 
is  come  :  but  as  soon  as  she  is  delivered  of  the  child,  she  remembereth 
no  more  the  anguish,  for  joy  that  a  man  is  born  into  the  world.  (Jno. 
xvi.  21.) 

So  also  when  the  judgment  of  the  last  day  commences  and  brings 
destruction  to  the  wicked,  it  is  not  without  the  Gospel  announcing  par- 
don and  life  to  the  penitent,  but  to  the  impenitent,  inevitable,  and  most 
aggravated  destruction.  For  while  to  the  one  it  is  the  savour  of  life  unto 
life,  to  the  other  it  is  the  savour  of  deathi  unto  death.  Besides  ;  as 
travail  is  the  certain  lot  of  a  woman  with  child,  in  the  ordinary  nature 
of  things,  so  judgment  is  sure  to  overtake  all,  and  destruction  the  finally 
impenitent,  and  that  speedily.  "  Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work 
is  not  executed  speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully 
set  in  them  to  do  evil  "  But  "  He  that  being  often  reproved  harden- 
eth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that  without  remedy." 
"  And  shall  not  God  avenge  his  own  elect,  who  cry  day  and  night  to 
him,  though  he  bear  long  with  them?  I  tell  you,  that  he  will  avenge 
them  speedily.  Nevertheless,  when  the  Son  of  man  cometh  shall  he 
find  faith  on  the  earth  P''  (Eccl.  viii.  11 ;  Prov.  xxix.  1 ;  Luke,  xviii. 
7,  8.)  The  elect  therefore  are  then  to  be  searched  out  and  proved,  be- 
fore they  are  avenged,  and  before  the  wicked  are  destroyed  with  a  swift 
destruction. 


382  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

It  is  peculiarly  common  to  the  Spirit  of  prophecy,  to  paint  in  strong 
colours,  and  to  express  with  great  energy,  insomuch  that  matters  of 
long  continuance  appear  to  be  accomplished  in  an  instant,  or  nearly 
so.     Thus  of  the  fall  of  Babylon  :  "  And  a  mighty  angel  took  a  stone 
like  a  great  millstone,  and  cast  it  into  the  sea,  saying.  Thus  with  vio- 
lence  shall  that  great  city  Babylon  be  thrown  down,  and  shall  be 
found  no  more  at  all."     And  again  :  "  For  in  one  hour  so  great  riches 
is  come  to  n-^ught."     And  again  :  "  For  in  one  hour  is  she  made  des- 
olate." (Rev.  xviii.'17,  19,  21.)     And  yet  this  fall  of  Babylon  is  ac- 
knowledged to  fill  up  many  years,  not  to  say  ages.     In  like  manner 
the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet  has  been  confessedly  going  on 
for  many  years,  and  it  is  yet  a  secret  with  God  how  long  it  is  to  sound. 
And  the-  fall  of  Babylon   evidently  commences  with  the  sounding  of 
the  seventh,  or  last  trumpet ;  for  immediately  therewith,  "  The  king- 
doms of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever."     But  the  fall  of  Baby- 
lon, or  of  the  beast,  or  of  the  man  of  sin,  (for  I  suppose  few,  if  any, 
of  the  informed,  will  dispute  these  being  all  one,  in  the  real  spirit  and 
substance  of  the  matter,)  is  not  until  the  last  appearing  of  Christ,  or 
day  of  final  judgment.     Neither  will  it  any  less  agree  with  the  sound- 
ing of  the  seventh  trumpet ;  for  that  judgment  is  plainly  taught  as 
commencing  with  the  sounding  of  that  trumpet,  as  already  stated. 
But  that  the  fall,  or  destruction,  of  this  beast,  is  not  to  take  place 
until  the  commencement  of  the  day  of  final  judgment,  is  plainly  enough 
taught  by  the   apostle  Paul  in  his  second  epistle  to  the   Thessaloni- 
ans  ;  where  he  speaks  in  such  explicit  terms,  that  I  know  not  if  any 
dispute  its  being  the  last  judgment  of  which  he  is  treating,  and  in  a 
few  sentences  introduces  the  man  of  sin,  or  beast,  in  such  plain  terms 
that  they  have  been  long  acknowledged  to  apply  to  the   same  beast, 
or  spiritual  Babylon  ;  and  after  showing  that  that  day  of  the  Lord,  of 
which  he  had  been  speaking,  would  not  come  except  there  should  be 
a  falling  away  first,  and  that  wicked,  or  man  of  sin,  should  be  revealed ; 
he  then  announces,  in  unequivocal  terms,  that  the  Lord  will  consume 
him  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  destroy  him  with  the  brightness 
of  his  appearing.     "  Seeing  it  is  a  righteous   thing  with  God  to  re- 
compense tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  yoii,  and  to  you  who  are 
troubled,  rest  with  us,  when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from 
heaven  with  his  mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire,  [He  maketh  his  minis- 
ters flames  of  fire,  and  by  his  Gospel  shall  judgment  be  executed  in 
the  world,]  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  that 
obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  who  shall  be  punished 
with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  and  from 
the  glory  of  his  power  ;  when  he  shall  come  [in  the  progress  of  that 
,  day]  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that 
believe  [because  our  testimony  among  you  was  believed]  in  that  day." 
(Thus  there  will  be  a  real  privilege  of  believing  in  that  day,  that  be- 
ing the  time  to  gather  in  the  elect,  or  to  gain  men  to  the   true  and 
perfect  faith  ;  For  when  the  Son  of  man  comes  shall  he  find  faith  on 
the   earth.?)  "  Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  by   [concerning]  the 
coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our  gathering  together  to  him, 
that  ye  be  not  soon  shaken  in  mind,  or  be  troubled,  neither  by  spirit, 
nor  by  word,  nor  by  letter,  as  from  us,  as  that  the  day  of  Christ  is  at 


OP    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  383 

hand.  Let  no  man  deceive  you  by  any  means  :  for  (that  day  shall 
not  come)  except  there  come  a  falling  away  first,  and  that  man  of 
sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdition  ;  who  opposeth  and  exalteth 
himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped  ;  so  that 
he  as  God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is 
God — And  then  shall  that  wicked  be  r.evealed,  whom  the  Lord  shall 
consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  destroy  with  the 
brightness  of  his  coming."  Thus  clearly  does  the  Apostle  show,  that 
the  destruction  of  the  beast  is  conjoined  with  the  last  appearing  of 
Christ  to  judgment ;  for  the  brightness  of  his  appearing  cannot  be 
seen,  or  have  its  effects,  in  the  destruction  of  the  son  of  perdition, 
until  his  appearing  has  commenced.  Besides  ;  His  consuming  him 
with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth  is  an  apt  expression  to  designate  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  world — the  sharp  two-edged  sword 
which  goes  out  of  his  mouth ;  "  For  the  word  of  God  is  quick  and 
powerful,  [living  and  eiiicacious,]  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged 
sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and 
of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  in- 
tents of  the  heart."  (Heb.  iv.  12.)  And  as  to  his  being  revealed  in 
flaming  fire,  it  is  no  unapt  phraseology  to  indicate  the  flaming  Spirit 
of  Christ  in  his  ministers  and  people,  in  whom  he  will  be  glorified  and 
admired.  "  For  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire,"  and  he  dwells  in 
his  people.  "  For  all  the  earth  shall  be  devoured  with  the  fire  of  my 
jealousy,  saith  the  Lord,  whose  fire  is  in  Zion,  and  his  furnace  in  Je- 
rusalem." (Zeph.  iii.  8  ;  Isa.  xxxi.  9.)  For  observe,  That  in  his 
saints  he  comes,  (that  is,  in  his  people  or  Zion  where  he  dwells,  and 
has  promised  to  dwell  for  ever,)  as  the  Apostle  Jude  also  has  it ; 
"Behold  the  Lord  cometh  in  myriads  (Greek)  of  his  saints."  But 
to  pursue  the  subject :  ^ 

From  the  above  statements  it  appears,  that  the  seventh  trumpet 
in  the  Apocalypse  is  the  same  as  the  last  trumpet  spoken  of  by  Paul, 
and  that  it  commences  conjointly  with  the  downfall  of  Babylon,  the 
setting  up  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  or  Millennial  reign,  and  with 
the  last  judgment  of  the  quick  and  the  dead.  And  to  these  things 
j,gree  the  words  of  the  Apostle  Paul  in  another  epistle,  (2  Tim.  iv.  1,) 
speaking  of  the  appearing  of  Christ,  "  Who  shall  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead  at  his  appearing  and  his  kingdom."  And  if  any 
Scripture  testimonies  inevitably  contradict  the  expectation  of  the 
Gospel's  being  successfully  preached  to  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth, 
in  the  day  and  hour  of  judgment,  or  if  any  are  incompatible  with  the 
execution  of  ample  vengeance  on  the  finally  impenitent,  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  notwithstanding,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  them. 
When  men  hear  the  testimony,  that  the  day  of  God's  judgment  has 
commenced,  let  them  beware  that  they  be  not  found  among  the  scoffers, 
who  walk  after  their  own  lusts  and  say.  Where  is  the  promise  of  his 
coming  ?  and  who  speak  evil  of  the  things  which  they  know  not. 

Although  the  proposed  limits  of  this  appendix  are  too  contracted  to 
admit  of  considering,  minutely,  many  of  the  numerous  Scriptures  which 
relate  to  this  important  period,  one  or  two  more  seem  necessarily  to 
present  themselves.  The  prophet  Daniel  has  spoken  very  pointedly 
of  the  same  period  and  the  same  work  in  his  vision  of  the  last  beast, 
his  destruction,  and  the  kingdom  of  God,  or  of  the  saints,  succeeding 


384  OP    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

everlastingly  :  (vii.  21-27  :)  "I  beheld,  and  the  same  horn  made  war 
with  the  saints,  and  prevailed  against  them;  until  the  ancient  of  days 
came,  and  judgment  was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  the 
time  came  that  the  saints  possessed  the  kingdom.  Thus  he  said.  The 
fourth  beast  shall  be  the  fourth  kingdom  upon  earth,  which  shall  be 
diverse  from  all  kingdoms,  and  shall  devour  the  whole  earth,  and  shall 
tread  it  down,  and  break  it  in  pieces.  And  the  ten  horns  out  of  this 
kingdom  are  ten  kings  that  shall  arise  ;  and  another  shall  rise  after 
them ;  and  he  shall  be  diverse  from  the  first,  and  he  shall  subdue  three 
kings.  And  he  shall  speak  great  words  against  the  Most  High,  and 
shall  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  think  to  change  times 
and  laws  ;  and  they  shall  be  given  into  his  hands  until  a  time  and  times 
and  the  dividing  of  time.  But  the  judgment  shall  sit,  and  they  shall 
take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto  the  end. 
And  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom 
under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of 
the  Most  High  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  do- 
minions shall  serve  and  obey  him."  Here  is  a  very  remarkable  de- 
scription of  the  beast  in  the  Apocalypse  ;  and  also  of  his  judgment, 
agreeing  with  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet ;  as  also  the  king- 
dom to  last  forever,  as  in  the  seventh  trumpet,  "  And  he  shall  reign  for- 
ever and  ever."  It  is  also  observable  that  the  work  is  progressive, 
for  the  dominion  of  the  beast  is  not  destroyed  at  once,  but  the  judgment 
shall  sit,  and  they  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and  to 
destroy  it  to  the  end.  Once  more  ;  This  kingdom  and  dominion  and 
the  judgment  were  all  given  to  the  saints,  and  the  kingdom  is  the 
Lord's,  with  all  things  which  pertain  to  it.  Thus  it  is  perfectly  cor- 
respondent with  the  representation  in  the  Apocalypse,  which  was  shown 
to  John  in  vision,  and  is  called  the  first  resurrection.  "  And  I  saw  an 
angel  come  down  from  heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand.  And  he  laid  hold  on  the  Dragon,  that 
old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil,  and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand 
years,  and  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit,  and  shut  him  up,  and  set  a 
seal  upon  him  that  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more,  till  the 
thousand  years  should  be  fulfilled  ;  and  after  that  he  must  be  loosed  a 
little  season.  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them  :  and  judg- 
ment was  given  to  them  ;  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were  be- 
headed for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  who  had 
not  worshipped  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  neither  had  received  his 
mark  upon  their  foreheads,  or  in  their  hands  ;  and  they  lived  and  reign- 
ed with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  But  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not 
again  until  the  thousand  years  were  finished.  This  is  the  first  resur- 
rection. Blessed  and  holy  is  he  who  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrec- 
tion ;  on  such  the  second  death  hath  no  power  ;  but  they  shall  be 
priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand 
years."  (Rev.  xx.  1-6. 

!n  this  vision  Christ  and  his  saints  are  represented  as  reigning  a  thou- 
sand years.  But  that  phraseology  in  prophecy  is  by  no  means  incon- 
sistent with  the  continuance  of  the  kingdom  forever.  And  as  other 
prophecies,  concerning  the  same  work  and  kingdom,  (for  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  one,  there  cannot  therefore  be  a  universal  and  everlasting 
kingdom  for  each  distinct  representation  in  prophecy,)  assert  that  it 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  385 

shall  be  everlasting,  it  is  entirely  safe  to  conclude  the  same  in  this 
place,  inasmuch  as  this  relates  to  the  coming  of  Christ  to  judgment; 
and  we  read  of  his  second  coming,  but  not  of  his  third;  and  therefore 
have  but  one  coming  to  expect  after  the  apostolic  dispensation,  of  which 
more  hereafter.  Accordingly  says  Daniel,  (vii.  18:)  "  But  the  saints 
of  the  Most  High  shall  take  the  Idngdom,  and  possess  the  kingdom  for- 
ever, even  forever  and  ever."  No  difficulty  need  arise  from  Satan's 
being  loosed  a  little  season,  at  the  accomplishment  of  the  thousand  years  ; 
for  although  some  remarkable  events  may  be  expected  then  to  take 
place,  not  only  with  the  wicked,  but  even  toward  the  holy  city,  or 
Church,  there  is  nothing  said  which  in  the  least  resembles  disinheriting 
them,  even  for  a  time,  or  even  interrupting  their  reign  ;  for  when  Gog 
and  Magog  compass  the  camp  of  the  saints  and  of  the  beloved  city,  fire 
comes  down  from  God  out  of  heaven  and  consumes  them,  and  the 
saints  appear  to  suffer  no  loss  nor  interruption.  But  it  is  time  to  say 
something. 

Secondly.  Of  the  effect  to  follow  on  the  sounding  of  the  last  trumpet ; 
the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible  ;  or  the  sleeping  awaked,  and  the 
living  be  changed. 

Having  shown  in  the  preceding  discourse,  what  the  true  resurrection 
promised  in  Christ  is,  that  it  is  a  spiritual  work  effected  in  the  spirit  by 
the  Gospel ;  and  having  just  done  showing  that  the  Gospel  is  preach- 
ed in  the  sounding  of  the  seventh,  or  last  trumpet,  or  in  the  day  of 
judgment;  I  need  only  take  time  in  this  place,  to  show  why  this  is 
called  the  first  resurrection,  which  comes  in  the  last  day,  and  what  is 
immediately  implied  in  that  saying.  And  it  is  so  called  in  simplicity 
and  plainness  because  it  is  the  first  which  is  finished  and  completed. 
These  are  the  first  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  Christ  when 
he  sets  up  his  everlasting  kingdom  ;  or  in  other  words,  they  are  the. 
true  and  real  inheritors  distinctly  from  the  wicked,  and  have  now  got 
into  the  possession,  at  least  in  its  commencement.  "  The  dead  in  Christ 
shall  rise  first." 

The  apostles  in  their  day  had  received  the  first-fruits  of  the  Spi- 
rit, and  were  a  kind  of  firsl-fruils  to  God  ;  yet  the  first-fruits  to  God 
and  to  the  Lamb,  who  had  come  to  be  fully  ripe  and  perfect,  were 
seen  as  having  come  long  afterwards,  with  the  Lamb  on  Mount  Zion, 
contemporary  with  the  fall  of  Babylon.  So  likewise,  although  the 
Apostles  were  risen  with  Christ,  and  travelled  in  the  work  of  the  re- 
generation, according  to  the  dispensation  and  gift  of  the  day  in  which 
they  had  lived,  the  fullness  of  the  work  was  to  come  in  another  day, 
which  they  also  foresaw  and  testified,  though  not  always  by  the  same 
terms.  And  this  first  resurrection  in  its  perfection,  was  that  which 
the  Apostle  so  earnestly  sought.  That  if  by  any  means  he  might 
attain  to  the  resurrection  from  among,  or  from  the  dead,  as  before 
shown.  Nothing  therefore  appears  in  the  account  of  this  which 
is  called  the  first  resurrection  to  prevent  any  one  of  all  those  who 
have  believed  in  Christ  and  been  obedient  from  the  beginning,  from 
being  amongst  those  who  partake  of  it ;  the  account  seems  actually 
to  favour  the  impression  that  they  are  all  there,  and  eventually  all 
mankind,  except  the  wicked  who  exclude  themselves  by  rejecting  the 
Gospel  oflFer.  "  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and 
judgment  was  given  to  them  :  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were 
26 


386  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  who 
had  not  worshipped  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  neither  had  received 
his  mark  upon  their  foreheads,  or  in  their  hands  ;  and  they  lived  and 
reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  But  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived 
not  again  until  the  thousand  years  were  finished.  This  is  the  first 
resurrection.  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  who  hath  part  in  the  first  resur- 
rection ;  on  such  the  second  death  hath  no  power  ;  but  they  shall  be 
priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand 
years."  It  is  here  worthy  to  be  noticed,  that  there  is  no  mention  of 
a  second  resurrection,  and  that  whatever  may  be  said  in  proof  of  its 
existence,  there  is  nothing  said  of  any  blessedness  or  holiness  as  the 
portion  of  those  who  partake  of  it.  We  may  observe  farther  :  That 
the  resurrection  and  the  judgment  are  intimately  connected,  as  before 
stated;  those  who  lived  again,  and  participated  in  the  first  resurrec- 
tion, are  the  same,  and  at  the  same  period,  who  sat  on  the  thrones  and 
had  judgment  given  to  them.  Once  more  :  From  what  has  been 
shown,  it  will  naturally  be  understood,  as  formerly  stated,  that  the 
resurrection  is  a  progressive  work ;  to  such  a  degree  that  those  who 
believed  in  Christ  in  the  apostles'  days  or  after,  and  kept  their  faith 
in  obedience,  entered  into  that  resurrection  which  is  finished  in  the 
second  appearing  of  Christ,  then  called  the  first  resurrection  ;  and 
that  with  what  they  had  gained  and  faithfully  kept,  they  are  ready  to 
enter  into  the  increased  and  finishing  work  of  the  resurrection  to  eter- 
nal life  in  Christ,  in  his  second  appearing,  "  Who  are  kept  by  the 
power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation,  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the 
last  time."  "  That  the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  more  precious  than 
that  of  gold  that  perisheth,  though  it  be  tried  by  fire,  might  be  found 
to  praise,  and  honour,  and  glory,  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ." 
(1  Pet.  i.  5,  7.) 

The  multitude  of  symbolical  representations  exhibited  in  the  Apoc- 
alypse, and  the  strong  allegories  used  in  this  particular  vision,  seem 
to  have  led  some  to  conclude  that  this  is  not  properly  a  resurrection, 
which  is  here  called  the  first,  but  that  the  phraseology  is  wholly 
symbolical.  But  without  endeavouring  to  crowd  the  understanding 
of  any  man  beyond  measure,  I  would  make  free  to  remark,  that,  To 
count  all  the  phraseology  in  this  narrative  so  symbolical  as  to  ex- 
clude its  being  intelligibly  applicable  to  the  real  substance,  seems  to 
be  an  error  :  good  symbols  have  an  aptness  to  represent  the  things 
signified.  And  whatever  may  be  the  rules  among  the  learned,  to 
disapprove  of  metaphorical  and  appropriate  forms  of  language  being 
mixed,  it  is  certain  these  rules  have  not  always  been  rigidly  observed. 
And  it  is  evident  that  prophecies  are  sometimes  so  far  mixed,  that 
the  fulfillment  comes  out  so  exactly  according  to  the  letter  of  the 
prophecy,  that  it  may  be  called  at  least  nearly  literal,  while  part 
of  the  same  is  metaphorical.  But  especially  ;  Some  parts  of  the 
symbolical  representations  in  the  Apocalypse  appear  evidently  to 
have  literal  explanations.  The  vision  of  the  Lamb  on  Mount  Zion 
with  the  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand,  though  highly  symbolical, 
is  immediately  explained  in  language  as  free  from  metaphor  as  most 
of  the  prophecies,  which  are  accounted  the  most  literal ;  so  free  as 
to  be  in  no  wise  embarrassing  to  honest  minds  under  the  Gospel. 
(Rev.  xiv.  1-5.)     So  in  this  place,  the  vision  is  quite  symbolical; 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  387 

but  the  explanation,  "  This  is  the  first  resurrection — Blessed  and  holy- 
is  he  who  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection  ;  on  such  the  second 
death  hath  no  power,"  is  sufiiciently  plain,  when  once  men  come  to 
know  what  the  resurrection  is.  And  thus  it  will  be  found  in  the  issue 
with  many  prophecies. 

The  notion  of  a  literal  resurrection  of  the  animal  body,  so  strongly 
prepossessed,  seems  to  lay  a  foundation  for  difficulty  respecting  the 
first  resurrection.  But  whatever  remarks  are  necessary  to  be  added 
here  may  come  in  place  after  a  quotation  from  a  late  learned  author. 
(See  Dr.  Tim.  Dwight  on  Isa.  xxi.  11,  12,  pp.  40,  41.)  This  author, 
among  other  remarks  on  the  first  resurrection,  has  the  following  : 
"  But,  should  we  construe  this  part  of  the  passage  literally,  our  diffi- 
culties, instead  of  being  lessened,  will  be  increased.  It  is  said,  that 
the  souls  of  the  martyrs  lived  again  ;  and  that  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived 
not.  This,  literally  construed,  teaches  us  irresistibly,  that  the  souls 
of  the  martyrs,  antecedently  to  the  Millennium,  were  dead,  as  well  as 
their  bodies  ;  and  implies,  that  the  rest  of  the  souls  of  mankind  were 
also  dead.  *  *  *  Unfortunately,  however,  this  construction  makes 
St.  John  contradict  himself:  for  in  the  sixth  chapter  and  ninth  verse, 
he  informs  us,  that  he  saw  these  very  souls  living,  clad  in  white  robes, 
and  employed  in  prayer  to  God. 

"  Nor  are  we  yet  at  the  end  of  our  difficulties.  St.  John  says, 
this  living  again  of  these  martyrs  is  the  first  resurrection  ;  r]  irpwTTj 
(xvarfratfij,  [anastasis,]  the  first  future  existence.  The  word,  dvacfra- 
tfij,  signifies,  not  a  resurrection,  but  a  future  existence  :  as  is  un- 
answerably evident  from  our  Saviour's  use  of  it  in  his  reply  to  the 
Sadducees,  concerning  the  situation  of  the  woman  who  had  seven 
husbands.  (Matt,  xxii,  28,  &c.)  Here  he  adduces  the  declaration  of 
God,  (Exo.  iii.  6,)  '■lam  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and 
the  God  of  Jacob,  as  unanswerable  proof  of  the  avoctfratftg  ;  not  a  resur- 
rection, but  a.  future  existence.  '  God,^  he  says,  '  is  not  the  God  of 
the  dead,  but  of  the  living.''  As,  therefore,  God  declared  at  that  time, 
that  he  was  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ;  it  was  certain, 
that  these  men  were  living  beings,  when  this  declaration  was  made. 
The  declaration  was  therefore  a  complete  proof  of  the  avarfTowfij,  or 
future  existence;  but  it  was  no  proof  at  all  of  the  resurrection;  be- 
cause Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  were  not  then  raised.  Ac- 
cording to  this  very  interpretation,  it  is  here  said,  that  the  souls  of 
these  martyrs  lived,  and  reigned  loith  Christ  a  thousand  years ;  and 
that  this  is  the  first  avadrkdig,  or  living  again.  Were  this  intended 
literally  it  could  not  be  true  ;  because  St.  John,  as  has  been  men- 
tioned, saw  the  souls  of  martyrs  having  the  same  future  life,  many 
ages  before  ;  and  because  our  Saviour  asserts  the  same  thing,  under 
the  same  Greek  name,  concerning  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ;  and 
applies  it  generally  to  mankind.  Besides,  Moses  had  this  life  on  the 
mount  of  transfiguration ;  and  many  of  the  saints  arose,  after  our  Sa- 
viour's resurrection,  aiid  were  seen  of  many  ;  they  were  therefore  liv- 
ing beings. 

"  But  what  puts  this  matter  out  of  all  doubt  is  this  :  the  Scriptures 
positively  assert,  that  Christ  will  never  again  appear  in  this  world 
until  the  judgment.  Thus  says  St.  Paul : — '  Christ  was  once  offered 
to  bear  the  sins  of  many  ;  and  unto  them  that  look  for  him,  shall  he  ap- 


388  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

pear,  THE  SECOND  TIME,  unto  salvation.'  Thus,  also,  in  many 
other  places.  This  declaration,  repeated  in  a  variety  of  forms,  places 
it  beyond  a  debate,  that  Christ  will  never  appear  again  personally  in 
this  world,  until  he  comes  to  the  final  judgment.  As,  therefore,  the 
appearance  and  reign  of  Christ  here  are  symbolical ;  it  follows,  irre- 
sistibly, that  that  of  the  martyrs  is  symbolical  also."  I  do  not  intend  to 
inquire  minutely  into  the  correctne&s  of  every  idea  in  this  quotation, 
but  only  to  make  some  use  of  its  leading  features. 

The  burden  of  difficulty  in  the  way  of  understanding  this  account 
of  the  first  resurrection,  appears  to  be  the  same  prevalent  notion  of 
the  literal  resurrection  of  animal  bodies,  and  the  want  of  the  under- 
standing that  the  true  resurrection  pertains  only  to  the  soul — that 
a  future  existence  is  the  cardinal  point  to  be  confirmed  in  proof  of 
the  general  resurrection ;  and  that  to  make  that  future  existence  a 
happy  existence  in  Christ,  is  the  sum  of  the  resurrection  of  the  saints ; 
while  to  have  that  future  existence  rendered  completely  miserable,  by 
remaining  under  sin,  in  the  nature  of  the  first  Adam,  in  whom  all  die, 
and  receiving  its  full  wages,  is  the  sum  of  the  resurrection  of  damnation, 
and  to  which  the  wicked  eventually  come  forth.  From  this  view  of 
the  subject,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  allowing  this  first  to  be  a  real 
resurrection.  Neither  is  there  any  argument,  that  the  souls  of  these 
martyrs,  or  of  the  rest  of  ike  dead,  were  literally  dead,  from  its  being 
said,  The  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years  were 
finished,  but  only,  that  they  had  not  come  forth  to  their  final  reward. 
This  view  of  the  subject  also  escapes  the  charge  of  a  contradiction  in 
John's  two  accounts,  as  having  seen  these  same  souls  alive  long  be- 
fore, notwithstanding  the  acknowledgment  of  a  real  resurrection. 
For  it  is  evident  from  the  account  which  he  there  gives,  that  these 
souls  had  not  then  come  forth  to  their  reward,  or  in  other  words,  to 
the  uninterrupted  fruition  of  a  happy  future  existence,  or  the  first  re- 
surrection. "  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw  under 
the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and 
for  the  testimony  which  they  held  :  and  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
saying,  How  long,  0  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and 
avenge  our  blood  on  the  men  that  dwell  on  the  earth  .'  And  white 
robes  were  givea  to  every  one  of  them  ;  and  it  was  said  unto  them, 
that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  season,  until  their  fellow-servants 
also,  and  their  brethren,  who  should  be  killed  as  they  were,  should 
be  fulfilled."  (Rev.  vi.  9-11.)  These,  therefore,  although  they 
had  not  come  into  the  fullness  of  the  resurrection  of  life,  or  first  re- 
surrection, were  kept  in  safety  and  in  readiness  to  enter  in,  as  soon  as 
they  should  open,  having  kept  in  faithfulness  that  measure  of  life  and 
salvation  which  they  had  already  found,  according  to  their  day  and 
privilege.  And,  as  before  observed,  the  account  is  quite  favourable, 
that  they  have  now  come,  and  are  partakers  of  the  blessedness  of  the 
first  resurrection. 

But  the  above  author  has  made  a  bold  stand  towards  proving  the 
point  on  which  I  am  here  insisting,  when  he  asserts  that  the  Greek 
word,  dvatfrocrfij,  signifies,  not  a  resurrection,  but  a  future  existence. 
This  is  materially  true  as  it  is  used  in  the  New  Testament,  and  parti- 
cularly with  respect  to  the  final  event  of  those  who  hear  the  Gospel ; 
which  he  has  also  learnedly  proved,  by  the  language  of  Christ  to  the 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  389 

Sadducees,  relating  to  Abratam,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  Now  a  future 
existence  is  the  lot  of  all,  both  righteous  and  wicked ;  of  the  first 
happy  in  Christ,  and  of  the  last  miserable,  being  separated  from 
Christ,  and  from  all  good  ;  for  they  shall  come  forth  ;  they  who  have 
done  good,  to  the  resurrection  (future  existence)  of  life,  and  they 
who  have  done  evil,  to  the  resurrection  (future  existence)  of  dam- 
liation. 

Besides ;  The  word,  which  he  says  signifies,  not  a  resurrection, 
but  a  future  existence,  is  the  same  word  which  is  almost  every- 
where, in  the  New  Testament,  translated,  resurrection,  and  with  the 
exception  of  a  solitary  instance,  the  only  word  so  translated.  In  the 
narrative  given  by  Matthew,  of  certain  saints,  who  came  out  of  the 
tombs  after  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  the  Greek  word  translated,  re- 
surrection, is  not  avatf-rao'ij,  but  lysptfiv,  [egersin,]  which  is  the  only 
place  where  I  remember  to  have  seen  it  used  in  that  sense  ;  and  in 
the  connection  in  which  it  there  stands,  it  evidently  signifies  the  very 
same  with  the  other,  which  is  the  word  commonly  and  freely  used  on 
all  such  occasions,  and  is  therefore  tantamount  with  it.  The  two 
verbs  also,  from  which  these  two  words  are  respectively  derived,  are 
used,  as  it  would  seem  by  their  examples,  as  being  equivalent.  And 
it  is  remarkable,  that  our  author  in  his  reference  to  the  aforesaid  nar- 
rative of  Matthew  has  included  the  whole  in  the  future  existence. 
But  the  common  word,  dvarfratfij,  is  used  on  all  occasions  in  relation 
to  that  subject ;  if  then  it  does  not  signify  or  imply  a  resurrection, 
the  Greek  writings  of  the  apostles,  which  have  come  down  to  us,  con- 
tain no  word  which  signifes  it.  According  then  to  our  author's  own 
explanation  of  the  word,  no  other  resurrection  than  a  future  exist- 
ence is  proved,  or  even  spoken  of,  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  with 
this  only  distinction  of  happy  and  miserable. 

Consistently  with  this  view,  the  word  is  once  used  by  Paul,  com- 
pounded with  a  syllable  which  signifies,  from  among,  or  out  of.  "  If 
that  by  any  means  I  might  attain  to  the  resurrection  from  the  dead" 
■  [_sig  rriv  sfavarfratfiv  rcoy  vsxpojv] — to  that  future  existence  in  Christ, 
which  is  free  from  death  and  all  who  are  dead.  For  as  in  Adam, 
where  is  the  first,  or  present  existence,  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ, 
where  is  the  second,  or  future  existence,  which  is  the  resurrection, 
all  are  made  alive — He  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  As  in  the 
first  Adam  men  are  physically  raised  to  life,  or  brought,  into  the  first, 
or  present  existence  ;  so  in  Christ  they  are  re-raised  to  life,  or  brought 
into  a  future  and  happy  existence  in  the  Spirit ;  not  only  redeemed 
from  the  fall  which  they  have  suffered  in  the  first  Adam  from  their 
original  rectitude,  but  advanced  into  a  grade  of  life  and  existence  su- 
perior to  any  thing  which  could  have  been  experienced  in  the  first 
creation  :  and  this  is  a  real  resurrection  or  re-raising.  Accordingly, 
to  bring  forth  into  life  for  the  purpose  of  filling  up  an  appointed  place 
which  ought  to  be  filled  according  to  order,  is  the  same  as  to  resur- 
rect, or  raise  again,  according  to  the  use  of  the  word  by  the  apostles, 
in  relating  the  proposition  of  the  Sadducees.  "  If  a  man  die,  having 
no  children,  his  brother  shall  marry  his  wife,  and  raise  up  [ctvarfTTjrfsi, 
by  Matthew,  l^avadTrjgji,  by  Mark  and  Luke  ;  he  shall  resurrect]  seed 
unto  his  brother." 

That  this  description,  in  the  Apocalypse,  of  the  judgment  and  first 


390  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  ^ 

resurrection,  is  MgUy  symbolical,  is  not  to  be  denied.  Buttbatisno 
proof  tbat  it  cannot  be  understood  in  its  proper  time,  altbougb  tbat 
understanding  may  be  gained  by  slow  degrees.  Neitber  is  it  any 
proof  tbat  tbe  allegories  are  not  well  adapted  to  represent  tbe  sub- 
stance, so  tbat  tbe  likeness  may  be  clearly  seen  in  tbe  fulfillment. 
Besides  ;  Tbe  symbolical  representation  of  tbe  judgment  and  resur- 
rection, as  commencing  witb  tbe  Millennial  reign  of  Cbrist  and  bis 
saints,  is  no  proof  tbat  tbose  tbings  are  not  real  at  tbat  time  ;  nay,  it 
is  a  positive  proof  of  tbeir  reality,  to  all  wbo  bave  unsbaken  faitb  in 
tbe  Scriptures,  as  undoubtedly  as  if  tbe  facts  were  announced  in  tbe 
most  appropriate  language  ;  for  on  any  otber  view  of  tbis,  and  all 
sucb  representations,  tbe  final  coming  of  Cbrist  to  judgment,  and  bis 
rewarding  tbe  rigbteous  and  tbe  wicked,  according  to  tbeir  several 
cbaracters  and  works,  migbt  also  be  considered  symbolical  and  not 
real.  Nevertbeless,  it  is  not  to  be  controverted,  tbat  tbese  symboli- 
cal representations  render  sucb  matters  obscure,  as  propbecies  com- 
monly and  designedly  are,  until  tbe  time  of  tbe  fulfillment. 

Tbe  aforesaid  autbor  bas  acknowledged,  according  to  tbe  prevail- 
ing belief  for  many  years,  tbat  tbe  seventb  angel  bas  commenced  bis 
sounding,  and  tbat  Cbrist  bas  come  to  tbe  judgment  of  tbe  great 
wbore,  or  Baybylon.  Part  of  bis  words  are,  (Page  20,)  "  We  may, 
I  tbink,  fairly  consider  tbe  great  voice  as  already  uttered  out  of  the 
temple  of  heaven  from  the  throne^  saying ,  It  is  done.''''  "  In  tbe  mean 
time,  Cbrist  bas  come  to  tbis  work  of  judgment  as  a  thief:  in  a 
manner  tbe  most  sudden,  tbe  most  astonisbing,  tbe  most  terrible." 
Tbe  only  objection,  tben,  against  believing  tbat  Cbrist  bas  come  in 
tbe  Millennial  reign,  and  tbat  tbe  first  resurrection,  or  future  exis- 
tence in  bappiness,  bas  commenced,  and  consequently  tbat  some,  even 
tbose  wbo  are  in  it,  bave  an  understanding  of  wbat  it  is,  seems  to  be 
contained  in  tbe  notion,  tbat  tbe  coming  of  Cbrist  to  tbe  judgment 
and  fall  of  Babylon  and  bis  coming  to  reign  witb  bis  saints,  are  two 
different  comings  in  succession,  otberwise  be,  witb  otbers,  must  ac- 
knowledge tbat  tbe  Millennium  bas  already  commenced.  And  indeed 
tbis  seems  to  be  virtually  acknowledged  by  bim,  tbougb  cautiously  : 
of  wbicb  in  its  place. 

But  fcbe  inquiry  yet  remains  witb  tbem,  Wben  will  tbe  Millennium 
commence  ?  Our  autbor,  after  laboriously  examining  tbe  propbe- 
cies of  Daniel  and  Jobn,  concludes,  "  Tbe  probability  is  tbat  we  sball 
find  the  words  closed^  and  sealed  up  unto  the  time  of  the  end.''''  (Page 
43.)  True  enougb ;  but  at  tbe  end,  or  wben  tbe  finisbing  work  bas 
commenced,  tbe  words  are  to  be  unsealed.  Tbus  tbe  propbet  Daniel, 
(xii.  10,)  "  And  none  of  tbe  wicked  sball  understand  ;  but  tbe  wise 
shall  understand."  On  tbese  words  our  autbor  observes,  "He  (the 
interpreter  to  Daniel)  tben  mentions  tbat  men  of  piety  sball  bereaf- 
ter  understand  tbis  subject ;  tbat  is,  I  siippose,  (says  be,)  after  tbe 
prediction  sball  bave  been  fulfilled."  (Page  4-3.)  If  tben  tbis  autbor, 
and  otbers  of  tbe  same  faitb  witb  bim,  are  of  tbe  pious,  or  wise,  wby 
need  tbey  be  at  any  loss  to  understand,  so  far  at  least,  as  to  know  tbat 
tbe  time  is  come,  and  wben  it  commenced,  or  nearly. 

Tbe  aforesaid  autbor  acknowledges,  tbat  tbe  Millennium  comes  on 
by  successive  steps.  (Page  42.)  He  also  acknowledges  tbe  proba- 
bility that  it  has  actually  commenced,  at  least  in  some  degree.     His 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  391 

words  are,  (Page  44,)  "  There  is  no  improbability  in  the  opinion, 
now  extensively  embraced — and  in  my  own  view  it  is  just — that  this 
happy  period  has,  in  the  sense  which  I  have  specified,  already  begun." 
So  much  are  men  of  exquisite  literatui-e  and  profound  study  perplexed 
in  a  subject  which,  it  is  expressly  said.  The  wise  shall  understand — 
the  wise  towards  God,  or  pious,  as  is  evident  from  the  wise  being  con- 
trasted with  the  wicked.  This  remark  is  agreeable  to  the  aforesaid 
author's  own  words,  who  calls  those  wise  ones,  men  of  piety. 
It  is  then  a  fact,  supported  by  the  opinion  of  those  who  study 
the  Scriptures,  an  opinion  now  extensively  embraced,  that  the 
Millennial  reign  of  Christ  has  dawned.  The  same  also  is  sup- 
ported by  the  testimony  of  Scripture  prophecy,  which  fixes  its  com- 
mencement in  about  the  year  1747,  agreeing  to  the  end  of  Daniel's 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety  days  or  years  :  (xii.  11,  12  :) 
"  And  from  the  time  that  the  daily  sacrifice  shall  be  taken  away,  and 
the  abomination  that  maketh  desolate  set  up,  there  shall  be  a  thousand 
two  hundred  and  ninety  days.  Blessed  is  he  who  waiteth,  and  cometh 
to  the  thousand  three  hundred  and  five  and  thirty  days."  Here  is  an 
addition  of  forty-five  days  or  years,  at  the  close  of  which  some  addi- 
tional blessedness  was  to  be  found.  These  forty-five  years  added  to 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty-seven,  make  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  ninety-two.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  the  aforesaid 
author  has  noticed  that  year  as  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  great  day  of 
God  Almighty^  for  the  destruction  of  Babylon,  (Page  18.)  It  is  also 
remarkable,  that  he  has  mentioned  a  powerful  prevalence  of  vital 
piety,  which  had  lasted  twelve  or  fifteen  years,  and  began  to  decline 
about  the  year  1752,  and  consequently  included  the  year  1747. 
Likely  the  very  revival  in  which  the  reign  of  Christ  began  to  dawn, 
according  to  the  prophecy,  and  the  testimony  of  those  who  say  Christ 
is  come,  and  they  have  found  him;  while  in  the  mean  time,  many 
walk  after  their  own  lusts  and  scoffingly  say,  where  is  the  promise  of 
his  coming,  for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep  all  things  continue  as  they 
were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation  ;  and  others  are  sorrowfully 
looking  out  between  hope  and  despair.  But  these  will  not  be  forgot- 
ten, if  they  persevere  :  as  it  is  written,  (Hab.  ii.  3,)  "  Though  it 
tarry,  wait  for  it ;  because  it  will  surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry." 
[inx''  ^^  it  will  not  be  slack.]  Other  revivals  also,  are  no  doubt  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  spread  of  this  glorious  work,  as  well  as  the 
continued  exertions  of  those  societies  which  are  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  spreading  the  knowledge  of  salvation.  And  it  is  still  farther 
remarkable,  that  the  same  author  has  noticed  the  same  remarkable 
year,  1792,  as  the  year  in  which  those  missionary  societies  had  their 
commencement  first  in  England,  which  are  now  become  so  common. 
Thus,  while  God  in  his  providential  government  pursued  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  beast,  making  havoc  of  his  secular  power,  by  the  wasting 
and  distressing  wars  in  Europe,  and  the  more  serious  and  piously  dis- 
posed of  the  nations,  who  looked  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  made 
vigorous  efi"orts,  to  spread  the  knowledge  and  savour  of  his  name, 
among  those  who  lay  in  greater  darkness,  and  thus  to  prepare  the 
way  of  the  Lord  ;  the  people  who  had  waited  for  him  and  found  him 
of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  prophets,  and  after  them  the  apostles, 
idid  write,  were  making  their  advancements  in  the  work  of  the  ever- 


392i  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

lasting  Gospel,  and  beginning  to  learn  the  blessedness  of  Mm  who 
waiteth,  and  cometh  to  the  thousand  three  hundred  and  five  and  thirty 
days.  A  judicious  consideration  of  all  these  matters  must  produce 
forcible  conviction  that  the  Millennium  has  unquestionably  dawned  on 
the  earth.  For,  taking  a  compendious  view  of  the  whole  matters  to- 
gether, men  of  reason  and  information  cannot  but  see  and  ac- 
knowledge, that  the  light  is  much  greater  than  it  was  a  century  ago, 
and  that  it  has  been  on  the  increase,  at  least  gradually  for  many  years, 
not  to  say  ages.  The  consideration,  therefore,  of  these  things  affords 
a  conclusive  argument  that  the  total  darkness  is  past  and  the  day  has 
begun  to  open. 

But  diflGiculties  will  ever  remain  on  this  subject,  as  long  as  people 
separate  and  divide  that  work  which  God  has  made  one.  The  de- 
struction of  Babylon  and  the  building  up  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
are  evidently  only  counterparts  of  the  same  work  and  accomplished 
in  the  same  period  of  time.  Admitting,  nevertheless,  that  the  de- 
struction of  Babylon  precedes,  so  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  Christ  to 
enter  ;  and  also  that  when  the  destruction  of  Babylon  is  finally  com- 
pleted, the  design  of  Christ  will  continue  :  for  his  kingdom  is  ever- 
lasting. Thus  it  was  shown  to  the  prophet  :  (Dan.  vii.  18,  26,  27:  ) 
"  But  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  shall  take  the  kingdom,  and 
possess  the  kingdom  forever,  even  forever  and  ever."  "  But  the 
judgment  shall  sit,  and  they  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  con- 
sume and  to  destroy  it  unto  the  end.  And  the  kingdom  and  do- 
minion, and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  iinder  the  whole  heaven, 
shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose 
kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve 
and  obey  him."  Thus  the  work  of  God  is  begun  by  smaller  mea- 
sures at  first  and  increased  to  perfection  ;  or  more  correctly  with  re- 
spect to  the  present  subject.  It  is  according  to  the  dispensations  of 
his  grace  to  men,  to  send  a  forerunner,  or  preparatory  work,  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  that  which  is  perfect ;  as  it  is  written  :  "  The  voice 
of  him  thai;  crieth  in  the  wilderness.  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God.  Every 
valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  made 
low  ;  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places 
plain  ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh 
shall  see  it  together.  (Isa.  xl.  3,  4,  5.)  Thus  the  coming  of  the 
Lord  in  his  glory  is  announced  by  a  preparatory  voice.  And  how- 
ever applicable  this  prophecy  was  to  the  first  appearing  of  Christ 
being  fulfilled,  for  that  day,  in  John  the  Baptist,  it  is  no  less  applica- 
ble to  his  second  appearing  ;  yea,  more  especially  it  belongs  to  the 
second  ;  for  all  flesh  must  see  his  glory  together,  which  did  not  come 
to  pass  in  the  first,  and  therefore  must  be  fulfilled  in  the  second, 
when  he  shall  come  in  the  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  him  and 
they  also  who  pierced  him ;  and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth  shall  wail 
because  of  him  :  when  his  reward  is  with  him,  and  his  work  before 
him  ;  "  And  whosoever  shall  exalt  himself  shall  be  abased  :  and  he 
that  shall  humble  himself  shall  be  exalted." 

There  is  no  possible  rule  by  which  the  wisest  or  most  learned  can 
distinguish  between  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  Babylon  and  that 
of  Christ's  reigning  with  his  saints  in  the  Millennium,  otherwise  than 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  393 

as  tere  stated.  Neither  can  any  distinguish  the  Scriptures  which 
relate  to  the  one  from  those  which  relate  to  the  other.  Together, 
therefore,  with  the  judgment  of  Babylon,  commence  the  Millennium 
and  the  first  resurrection.  But  it  is  the  nature  of  human  language, 
that  one  thing  must  be  expressed  before  another.  Thus  the  binding 
of  the  old  serpent,  or  dragon,  is  related  before  the  appearance  of  the 
thrones,  the  judgment,  and  the  living  of  the  martyrs,  although  all 
these  were  comprehended  in  one  vision,  and  are  to  be  actually  accom- 
plished in  the  same  time,  going  forward  together. 

But  its  being  granted,  that  the  coming  of  Christ  to  the  destruction 
of  Babylon,  and  his  coming  to  the  Millennial  reign,  are  one  coming, 
is  not  enough  to  unravel  the  difficulties  on  this  subject.  Here  is  the 
first  resurrection  ;  and  we  read  of  no  other  or  second  resurrection 
for  the  saints.  "  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first 
resurrection  on  such  the  second  death  hath  no  power."  But  no 
such  promise  to  him  that  has  part  in  the  second.  The  first  resur- 
rection and  the  second  death  seem  to  be  counterparts  of  the  work  of 
the  judgment,  the  first  being  the  lot  of  the  righteous,  and  the  second 
the  lot  of  the  wicked.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  evident  that  the  first 
resurrection  is  that  which  is  accomplished  in  the  final  appearance  of 
Christ  to  judgment,  and  that  the  vision  shown  to  John,  of  the  binding 
of  Satan,  and  of  thrones,  and  of  judgment,  and  of  the  first  resurrec- 
tion, was  nothing  less  than  a  vision  of  the  commencement  and  pro- 
cess of  the  last  judgment,  which  in  its  progress,  is  to  make  decisive 
work,  and  to  fix  the  eternal  condition  of  every  individual.  Again  : 
That  kingdom  of  God  which  immediately  succeeds  the  reign  of 
the  last  beast,  or  kingdom  of  Babylon,  is  an  everlasting  kingdom, 
having  no  end,  consequently  can  never  be  supplanted  by  the  enemy, 
never  superseded  by  any  other  kingdom  or  work  of  God,  however  it 
may  be  increased  and  advanced  into  diiferent  and  successive  grades 
of  glory  and  blessedness  :  for  "  of  the  increase  of  his  government 
and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end."  This  kingdom  therefore  can  be 
no  other  than  that  which  Christ  will  deliver  up  to  the  Father,  after 
he  has  put  down  all  rule  and  all  authority  and  power,  and  has  put 
all  enemies  under  his  feet,  in  that  day  when  those  who  are  his  shall 
be  made  alive  at  his  coming.  Now  that  that  kingdom,  which  imme- 
diately succeeds  the  reign  of  the  beast,  commonly  called  the  Millen- 
nium, is  endless,  as  here  stated,  has  been  shown,  once  and  again,  by 
the  accounts  given  of  it  by  the  prophet  Daniel,  and  the  description  of 
the  seventh  trumpet  in  the  Apocalypse  ;  which  Scriptures  the  judi- 
cious reader  may  consult. 

The  thought  may  be  novel  to  some,  and  on  that  account  excep- 
tionable, that  the  coming  of  Christ  to  the  last  judgment,  to  raise  the 
dead,  and  fix  the  final  condition  of  all,  is  the  same  as  his  coming  to 
destroy  the  kingdom  of  Babylon,  and  set  up  his  kingdom  on  earth. 
The  novelty  however  of  the  thought  by  no  means  makes  it  justly 
exceptionable.  Every  increasing  degree  of  light  is  new  in  its  com- 
mencement ;  and  so  is  every  increasing  dispensation  of  God  to  men, 
for  their  salvation.  After  Christ  had  performed  his  ministry,  and 
ascended,  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  we  are  told  he  will  come  again 
the  second  time,  but  not  the  third  or  fourth  time,  "  But  now  once  in 
the  end  of  the  world  hath  he  appeared  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sa- 


394  OP    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

crifice  of  himself — and  to  them  that  look  for  him  shall  he  appear  the 
second  time  without  sin  to  salvation."  (Heh.  ix.  26,  28.) 

This  text  is  adduced  by  the  author  quoted  above,  (as  may  be  seen 
by  reverting  to  the  place,)  to  prove  that  this  second  coming  of  Christ 
is  personal,  and,  I  suppose,  literal,  as  being  contrasted  with  all  those 
descriptions  of  his  coming  which  are  symbolical,  and  are  considered 
generally  to  relate  to  his  coming  in  the  Millennial  reign,  which  com- 
ing and  reign  he  seems,  on  that  account,  to  conclude,  are  not  literal 
or  perhaps  even  real.  But  the  result  of  an  investigation  of  that  plan 
of  reasoning  will  be,  completely  to  expose  the  weakness  of  that 
whole  system,  which  contemplates  the  coming  of  Christ  to  the  Mil- 
lennial reign,  and  his  coming  to  the  last  judgment,  as  being  two  dif- 
ferent comings,  and  the  work  of  each  a  different  work,  the  one  from 
the  other.  For  in  this  second  coming,  of  which  the  Apostle  speaks 
to  the  Hebrews,  there  is  not  a  word  of  its  being  literal,  or  personal, 
more  than  any  other  coming,  or  in  any  other  place.  It  is  simply  said 
he  will  appear  to  those  who  look  for  him,  the  second  time,  without 
sin  to  salvation.  It  might  be  asked.  If  this  appearance  be  literal,  or 
personal,  why  appear  to  those  only  who  look  for  him  and  are  saved  .? 
for  the  wicked,  who  look  not  for  him,  can  see  personality,  or  a  literal 
object  as  well  as  the  righteous.  But  none  of  the  wicked  shall  under- 
stand ;  but  the  wise  shall  understand.  It  may  also  be  inquired, 
Whether  a  literal  or  personal  appearance  of  Christ  be  necessary  to 
being  saved  ?  If  so,  surely  none  have  ever  been  saved,  since  he  as- 
cended out  of  their  sight,  ten  days  before  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given. 

But  farther  :  Those  accovmts  of  the  coming  of  Christ,  which  are 
inevitably  acknowledged  to  relate  to  his  final  appearing  to  judgment, 
are  as  far  from  being  communicated  in  literal  language,  as  any  of 
those  which  are  thought  to  relate  to  the  Millennial  reign,  insomuch, 
that  none  of  the  advocates  for  two  comings,  the  one  symbolical  and 
the  other  real,  are  able  to  draw  the  line  between  the  two  accounts, 
or  to  show  any  narrative,  which  designates  the  one  appearing,  and  is 
necessarily  incongruous  to  the  other.  The  result  then  of  this  inquiry 
is,  that  we  have  no  authority  to  expect  more  than  one  appearing 
of  Christ  after  that  of  the  apostles'  days,  either  symbolical  or  real. 
(For  that  which  is  merely  symbolical  is  not  real.)  But  symbolical 
predictions  are  not  inconsistent  with  real  accomplishments,  although 
they  leave  the  subject  obscure  until  the  time  of  the  fulfillment.  This 
coming,  then,  in  which  we  have  authority  to  believe,  is  that  same,  in 
which  all  that  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall 
come  forth,  those  ivho  have  done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and 
those  who  have  done  evil  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation.''''  Or  as 
the  prophet  Daniel  has  it :  "  And  many  of  them  that  slept  in  the 
dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life  and  some  to 
shame  and  everlasting  contempt."  The  term  many,  which  the 
Apostle  here  uses  concerning  those  who  slept,  is  no  exception  to  this 
being  a  prophecy  of  the  general  resurrection  and  judgment,  for 
many,  meaning  all,  is  an  acceptation  of  the  word,  not  unknown  in 
the  Scriptures,  in  language  less  symbolical  than  this.  "  For  if  through 
the  offence  of  one,  many  be  dead  ;  and,  "  For  as  by  one  man's  disobe- 
dience, vxany  vt'ere  made  sinners  ;  so  by  the  obedience  of  one,  shall 
many  be  made  righteous."     (Rom.  v.  15,  19.)     And  it  is  conclusively 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  395 

true,  that  the  prophet  here  spake  of  the  work  of  the  final  judgment, 
from  two  considerations.  First :  The  universality  of  the  deliverance 
of  the  righteous ;  "  And  n.t  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered, 
every  one  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book ;"  and  secondly  : 
That  both  the  righteous  and  the  M'icked  are  taken  into  the  account, 
and  receive  their  appropriate  rewards,  everlasting  life,  or  everlasting  con- 
tempt. 

Some  may  allege,  that  the  disquisition  is  lame  in  this  part,  for  the 
want  of  proof,  that  only  one  coming  of  Christ  is  meant  by  the  various 
representations  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  and  that  to  give  satisfaction 
on  this  subject,  which  is  of  so  great  importance,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  examine  the  different  accounts  separately  and  minutely.  This  how- 
ever does  not  comport  with  the  limits  here  proposed ;  neither  does  it 
comport  with  propriety,  without  the  most  obvious  necessity,  to  make 
the  most  laborious  efforts,  to  disprove  that  which  is  no  where  taught, 
known,  or  promised.  We  conceive  the  subject  will  here  be  carried  far 
enough  in  that  respect,  until  greater  necessity  shall  appear.  It  belongs 
to  those  who  believe  in  two  appearings  of  Christ,  the  one  symbolical  and 
the  other  real,  to  produce  their  evidence,  and  to  discriminate  sufficiently, 
what  Scriptures  designate  the  one  and  which  the  other,  and  to  show  what 
is  said  of  the  one  which  is  incompatible  with  the  other,  making  proper 
allowance  for  the  prophetic  style.  When  the  advocates  of  that  scheme 
agree  on  these  things  I  presume  there  will  be  little  difficulty  remaining 
on  this  subject. 

I  have  however  noticed  some  of  the  most  bold  and  forcible  descrip- 
tions of  the  coming  of  Christ  to  the  last  judgment,  and  shown  that  they 
are  entirely  applicable  to  the  Millennial  reign,  or  in  other  words  to  a  day 
of  ministering  the  Gospel  with  good  effect.  But  to  open  the  subject 
a  little  more  clearly  to  the  understanding,  I  will  here  take  notice  of  one 
other  passage  which  has  been  viewed  as  an  awful  description  of  the  last 
judgment  and  the  destruction  of  the  wicked  ;  and  so  it  is,  as  will  even- 
tually appear.  "And  Enoch  also,  the  seventh  from  Adam,  prophesied 
of  these,  saying  ;  Behold,  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  [^v  fxupi- 
atfiv,  in  myriads]  of  his  saints,  to  execute  judgment  upon  all,  and  to 
convince  all  that  are  ungodly  among  them  of  all  their  ungodly  deeds 
which  they  have  ungodly  committed,  and  of  all  their  hard  speeches, 
which  ungodly  sinners  have  spoken  against  him."  (Jude  14,  15.] 
Now  what  is  here  stated  is,  that  all  impious  sinners  shall  be  convinced, 
thoroughly ;  such  being  thtf  literal  import  of  the  Greek  language  used. 
What  then  ?  Is  conviction  incompatible  with  repentance  and  salvation  .'' 
Or  is  not  conviction  the  most  necessary  forerunner  of  repentance  .''  The 
whole  need  not  the  physician,  but  they  who  are  sick.  "  I  came  not," 
said  Jesus,  "  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance."  ■ 

A  plausible  objection  to  this  doctrine,  with  some,  will  be,  that  on 
this  plan,  that  men  have  an  opportunity  of  repentance  and  salvation  in 
the  day  of  judgment,  all  people  will  be  saved,  for  none  are  such  fools, 
as  not  to  avail  themselves  of  that  last  opportunity.  What  then,  O  man  ! 
Art  thou  envious  against  God  because  he  will  give  to  men,  even  to  the 
rebellious,  a  favourable  opportunity  to  repent  and  be  renewed,  who 
have  never  had  it  before  ?  Or  would  it  be  any  advantage  to  mankind, 
or  any  additional  honour  to  God,  that  those  who  have  never  had  the 
privilege  of  knowing  the  way  of  salvation  by  the  cross  of  Christ,  or 


396  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

those  whose  knowledge  has  been  partial  and  imperfect,  should  be  ex- 
cluded from  all  possible  hope  or  prospect  of  salvation  without  any,  the 
least  offer  or  trial,  to  prove  what  they  would  do,  if  brought  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth  ?  Art  thou,  0  man  !  whoever  thou  art,  in  fatal  de- 
ception with  respect  to  salvation,  and  wouldst  thou  be  unwilling  to  have 
a  fair  trial,  when  fully  convinced  of  thine  error?  And  wouldst  thou 
have  God  to  be  a  respecter  of  persons  ? 

But  be  ^not  in  haste  to  conclude,  that  times  will  be  too  easy.  It  is 
found  by  painful  experience,  that  men  have  no  fondness  for  repentance 
and  turning  to  God,  in  true  faith  and  obedience.  Scarcely,  if  at  all, 
any  choice,  lawfully  proposed  to  mankind,  is  more  difficult  for  them  to 
decide  upon,  than  whether  to  endure  the  pain  of  repentance  and  of  bear- 
ing their  cross,  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  to  salvation,  or  the  pain  of  eternal 
damnation.  I  suppose  if  all  the  people  saw  hell  opened,  and  themselves 
going  to  be  ingulfed  in  immediate  damnation,  irrecoverably,  in  such  a 
view  as  would  take  with  their  sense  and  feelings,  they  would  submit, 
though  irksomely,  to  take  up  some  measure  of  a  cross,  and  come  to  some 
repentance,  would  that  save  them.  But  this  is  not  God's  method  of 
working.  A  forced  obedience  is  not  well  pleasing  to  God.  He  requires 
the  heart.  Neither  are  forcible  means  of  lasting  benefit  to  the  creature  : 
the  people  who  come  to  Christ  in  the  day  of  his  power  are  a  willing 
people.  When  these  things  are  considered,  instead  of  fearing  lest  too 
many  be  saved,  each  one  ought  to  take  the  alarm,  lest  a  promise  being 
proposed  of  entering  into  rest,  he  or  she  should  seem  to  come  short  of  it. 
Many  in  that  day  will  find  the  gate  too  strait  and  the  way  too  narrow 
to  suit  their  taste,  and  refuse  to  enter  and  to  walk  therein.  "  For  the 
time  is  come,  that  judgment  must  begin  at  the  house  of  God  :  and  if  it 
first  begin  at  us,  what  shall  the  end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  Gos- 
pel of  God  ?  And  if  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the 
ungodly  and  the  sinner  appear  .'"'  Therefore,  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate  :  for  many,  I  say  unto  you,  shall  seek  to  enter  in  and  shall 
not  be  able."  Doubtless,  because  they  have  spent  their  privilege  and 
their  strength  doing  their  own  will.  Thus  will  many  even  in  the  last  day, 
when  the  wrath  of  God  is  clearly  revealed  against  all  ungodliness  and 
unrighteousness  of  men,  by  obeying  their  own  carnal  mind,  spend  that 
privilege  which  they  will  never  be  able  to  recover.  Awake,  therefore, 
thou  that  sleepest,  at  the  sound  of  the  last  trumpet,  and  arise  from  the 
dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light — light  to  know  thy  duty  and  to 
make  thy  escape.  To  day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts.     But  it  is  time  to  consider. 

Thirdly;  The  time  or  space  in  which  certain  transactions  are  to  he 
performed  :  In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  Having  pre- 
viously spoken  so  fully  on  this  point,  I  shall  introduce  what  is  here  to 
he  said  with  this  proposition  :  That  although  there  is  sufficient  reason 
to  believe,  that  the  whole  work  of  resurrection  and  judgment  will  not 
be  accomplished  in  so  short  a  time  as  is  here  described,  yet  there  is 
no  evidence  that  said  work  may  not  he  begun  in  a  period  so  short  as 
that  which  in  the  language  of  prophecy  is  marked  by  a  moment  or  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye. 

After  what  has  heretofore  been  stated  relative  to  the  resurrection, 
and  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  the  last  day,  or  time  of  the  last 
judgment,  it  will  not  he  foreign  to  our  present  purpose  to  introduce 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  397 

tlie  saying  of  the  Apostle,  "  Awake,  thou  thatsleepest,  and  arise  from 
the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light,"  as  a  suitable  description 
of  the  work  of  the  last  day,  or  time  of  the  resurrection  and  ^dgment. 
We  read  of  the  day  of  judgment;  the  day  of  the  Lord;  the  day  of 
God ;  and  the  day  of  the  Son  of  tnan,  or  the  day  when  the  Son  of  man 
is  revealed  ;  all  denoting  the  time  when  God  will  bring  the  world  into 
judgment.  Every  day  also  has  its  morning,  which  is  the  proper 
time  to  awake  and  enter  on  the  work  of  the  day.  "  Therefore,  let  us  not 
sleep  as  do  others  ;  but  let  us  watch  and  be  sober.  For  they  that 
sleep,  sleep  in  the  night ;  and  they  that  be  drunken,  are  drunken  in 
the  night.  But  let  us  who  are  of  the  day,  be  sober,  piitting  on  the 
breastplate  of  faith  and  love  ;  and  for  an  helmet  the  hope  of  salva- 
tion. For  God  hath  not  appointed  us  to  wrath,  but  to  obtain  salva- 
tion by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  us,  that  whether  we  wake 
or  sleep,  [being  in  the  earthly  tabernacle  or  out  of  it,]  we  should  live 
together  with  him." 

The  dispensations  of  God  towards  men  have  an  increase  ;  and  in 
each  one  something  is  made  known  which  had  not  been  known  in  the 
former.  It  is  therefore  impossible  for  the  people  in  one  dispensation 
to  know  what  is  to  be  in  the  next ;  but  each  one  must  be  understood 
by  its  own  light.  Accordingly  the  Jewish  prophets,  or  those  who 
consulted  their  writings,  could  not  know  what  was  to  be  in  the  days 
of  Christ  in  his  first  appearing,  but  believers  learned  it  in  the  light  and 
revelation  of  that  day.  And  for  the  proof  of  these  things,  the  words 
of  the  apostles  are  in  point.  Paul,  referring  to  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
says  :  "  But  as  it  is  written.  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nei- 
ther have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  love  him."  Thus  far  the  prophet ;  to  which 
the  Apostle  adds,  as  what  had  come  to  pass  in  his  day,  and  by  the 
superior  light  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ :  "  But  God  hath  revealed  them 
to  us  by  his  Spirit :  for  the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the  deep 
things  of  God."  And  again:  "  Now  we  have  received,  not  the  spirit 
of  the  world,  but  the  Spirit  which  is  of  God ;  that  we  might  know 
the  things  that  are  freely  given  to  us  of  God."  (1  Cor.  ii.  9, 10,  12.) 
Peter  also  bore  testimony  to  the  same  things,  when  speaking  of  the 
salvation  of  Christ ;  "  Of  which  salvation  the  prophets  have  inquired, 
and  searched  diligently,  who  prophesied-  of  the  grace  that  should 
come  to  you;  searching  what,  and  what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  which  was  in  them  did  signify,  when  it  testified  beforehand  the  suf- 
ferings of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that  should  follow.  To  whom  it  was 
revealed,  that  not  to  themselves,  but  to  us,  they  did  minister  the 
things  which  are  now  reported  to  you  by  them  that  have  preached  the 
Gospel  to  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven ;  which 
things  the  angels  desire  to  look  into.   (1  Pet.  i.  10-12.) 

In  like  manner  the  apostles  knew  not  what  should  be  in  the  day  of 
Christ  in  his  second  appearing  :  all  these  things  being  shown  to  them 
in  symbols,  metaphors,  allegories,  and  the  like.  Thus  says  Paul: 
"  For  we  know  in  part  and  we  prophecy  in  part.  [Of  things  yet  un- 
known.] But  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then  that  which  is 
in  part  shall  be  done  away.  When  I  was  a  child,  I  spake  as  a  child, 
I  understood  as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child :  but  when  I  became  a 
man,  I  put  away  childish  things.     For  now  we  see  through  a  glass, 


398  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

darkly  ;  but  then  face  to  face  :  now  we  know  in  part ;  but  then  shall 
I  know  even  as  also  I  amknown."  (1  Cor.  xiii.  9-12.  These  reflec- 
tions teach  us,  irresistibly,  that  they  consider  themselves  only  in  their 
infancy,  or  childish  state,  compared  with  that  perfect  day,  which  they 
believed  would  come,  and  of  which  they  prophesied,  but  did  not  fully 
know  what  it  should  be.  This  much  they  knew  by  faith,  and  not  by 
sight,  that  it  would  be  perfect.  So  says  John  :  "  Beloved,  now  are 
we  the  sons  of  God  ;  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be : 
but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we 
shall  see  him  as  he  is."  Accordingly,  to  that  same  John  were  shown 
many  things  which  were  to  come  to  pass  afterwards,  which  neither  he, 
nor  those  who  have  consulted  his  writings,  have  ever  been  able  to  un- 
derstand, nor  ever  will,  otherwise  than  by  the  opening  of  the  day  in 
which  they  will  have  their  final  accomplishment.  It  is  therefore  im- 
practicable for  any  man  to  know  what  is  the  order  or  manner  of  the 
work  of  the  last  day,  or  day  of  judgment,  until  taught  by  the  light 
and  revelation  of  that  day.  "  But  of  [or  -^rsp/,  concerning]  that  day 
and  hour  knoweth  no  man,  [until  it  commence,]  no,  not  the  angels 
who  are  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son, but  the  Father."  (Mark  xiii.  32.) 
As  the  prophets  inquired  and  searched,  what  time  and  what  manner  of 
time,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  them  did  signify  ;  so  the  people  have 
sought  in  vain  to  find  what  time,  or  when,  and  what  manner  of  time,  or 
what  should  be  the  work  of  the  day,  when  the  Son  of  man  should 
appear,  but  could  never  know  these  things,  and  never  will,  only 
as  the  day  declares  them.  Yet  these  searchings  have  not  been  alto- 
gether in  vain  ;  for  it  is  expedient  after  the  example  of  the  prophets, 
the  example  and  exhortations  of  the  apostles,  and  the  commandments 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  on  the  alert,  watching,  and  "  Looking  for  and 
hasting  to  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God,  wherein  the  heavens,  [as 
well  as  the  earth,]  being  on  fire,  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  elements 
[the  rudiments  of  the  world]  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat."  (2  Pet. 
iii.  12.) 

But  the  evidence  is  too  strong  and  clear  to  be  overturned,  that  the 
last  day,  or  day  of  judgment,  is  a  time  of  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the 
Son  of  God,  for  the  final  destruction  of  the  man  of  sin,  and  finished 
redemption  of  all  God's  people — the  day  of  the  fall  of  Babylon  and 
final  victory  and  triumph  of  the  Church.  The  day  of  judgment  there- 
fore is,  in  plain  terms,  a  new  and  last  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  of 
the  same  Christ  in  his  second  appealing,  in  which  all  mankind  are  to 
be  called  into  a  deeper  work,  and  a  more  consummate  trial  of  their 
true  state  and  character,  than  in  any  other  work  which  has  ever  ap- 
peared on  the  earth  before,  and  their  final  character  and  condition  to 
be  unalterably  decided  according  to  their  works.  It  is  therefore  justly 
esteemed,  the  day  of  the  judgment  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men,  and 
the  day  of  redemption  to  the  just.  There  can  therefore  be  no  impro- 
priety in  employing  an  exhortation  of  the  Apostle  in  the  first  dispen- 
sation, as  expressing  the  leading  parts  of  the  duty  and  work  of  the 
day  in  the  second,  although  much  has  yet  to  be  learned  in  addition 
thereto  in  its  own  order.  "  Awake  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from 
the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light." 

This  is  a  just  epitome  of  the  last  trumpet,  although  it  contains  no 
explicit  account  of  the  judgment ;  for  that  the  resurrection  and  the 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  399 

judgment  are  too  intimately  connected  together,  for  the  one  to  be 
effectuated  without  the  other,  will  not  be  denied  ;  they  are  expected 
and  believed  to  be  executed  in  the  same  great  day.  And  as  the  re- 
presentations of  the  coming  of  Christ  to  the  judgment  and  overthrow 
of  Babylon,  and  the  setting  up  of  his  kingdom,  or  Millennial  reign, 
and  the  representations  of  his  coming  in  the  last  day,  to  execute  final 
judgment  on  the  wicked,  and  finish  the  redemption  of  his  people,  are 
the  same  in  substance,  and  agree  to  one  another  so  well,  that  none 
can  draw  any  real  line  of  distinction,  or  show  what  particulars  be- 
long to  the  one,  not  compatible  with  the  other  ;  and  whereas  we 
read  of  seven  trumpets  in  succession,  the  seventh  of  which  is  necessa- 
rily the  last,  and  we  have  no  account  of  the  eighth,  or  any  one  after 
the  seven,  the  last  of  which  proclaims  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
the  judgment  of  the  wicked  and  the  reward  of  the  righteous,  the  argu- 
ment is  fair  and  conclusive,  that  these  appearings,  or  comings  of 
Christ  are  not  two  but  one,  and  that  when  the  Millennial  reign  of 
Christ  commences,  the  last  judgment  commences  also  ;  and  according 
to  what  has  been  already  stated,  that  day  is  acknowledged  to  have 
already  commenced. 

From  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  evidently  a  progressive,  and  not 
an  instantaneous  work.  And  in  no  other  view,  than  that  of  a  pro- 
gressive work,  having  a  succession  of  events,  can  it  agree  with  the  re- 
presentation given  by  Paul,  in  as  explicit  language  as  can  be  expected 
in  prophecy  :  "  Christ  the  first-fruits  ;  afterwards  they  that  are  Christ's 
at  his  coming.  Then  [siVa,  after]  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have 
delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father,  when  he  shall 
have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  authority,  and  power."  This  is  the 
work  to  be  executed  between  his  coming  and  his  delivering  up  the 
kingdom  to  the  Father,  as  the  judicious  reader  may  easily  perceive. 
"  For  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet."  A 
few  more  examples  will  be  of  benefit  to  elucidate  the  position,  that 
the  work  of  the  resurrection  and  judgment  is  a  work  of  orderly  pro- 
gress, andnot  instantaneous.  (Matt.  xiii.  40-43.)  "  As  therefore  the 
tares  are  gathered  and  burned  in  the  fire  ;  so  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of 
the  world.  The  Son  of  man  shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  they 
shall  gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things  that  offend,  and  them  who 
do  iniquity ;  and  shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire  :  there  shall  be 
wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth 
as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father."  This  then  is  the  pro- 
cedure which  is  to  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  world  ;  all  things 
which  offend  and  those  who  do  iniquity,  are  to  be  gathered  and  cleared 
off,  before  the  kingdom  is  in  readiness  to  be  delivered  ujp  to  the  Fa- 
ther ;  and  these  things  cannot  be  executed  without  a  fair  trial.  "  Again, 
[47-50,]  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net  that  was  cast  into 
the  sea,  and  gathered  of  every  kind :  which,  when  it  was  full  they 
drew  to  shore,  and  sat  down,  and  gathered  the  good  into  vessels,  but 
cast  the  bad  away,  so  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  the  world ;  the  angels 
shall  come  forth,  and  sever  the  wicked  from  among  the  just,  and  shall 
cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire  ;  there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnash- 
ing of  teeth."  Thus  the  Gospel  net,  at  the  end  of  the  world,  gathers 
of  every  kind  good  and  bad,  and  the  result  of  a  fair  trial  and  impar- 
tial examination,  is,  that  the  good  are  preserved,  and  the  bad  are  cast 


400  OP    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

away.  Once  more  :  (Matt.  xxv.  31-33.)  "  When  the  Son  of  man 
shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall 
he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory:  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered 
all  nations  ;  and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shep- 
herd divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats  :  and  he  shall  set  the  sheep 
on  his  right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  the  left."  This  separation  irre- 
sistibly carries  with  it,  according  to  the  similitude  which  is  employed 
to  set  it  forth,  the  idea  of  a  progressive  work,  as  well  as  the  remain- 
ing part  of  the  process  of  that  day,  which  the  reader  may  peruse  at 
discretion. 

All  these  statements  show  the  necessity  of  a  sufficient  length  of 
time  to  give  every  one  a  fair  trial  in  all  his  character.  The  narratives 
of  the  tares  as  being  selected  from  the  wheat,  which  requires  careful 
and  particular  work,  and  of  the  good  fish  being  severed  from  the  bad, 
so  that  none  of  them  may  be  cast  away,  and  none  of  the  bad  left  to 
defile  or  corrupt  the  good,  and  of  the  gathering  of  all  nations  before 
the  Son  of  man  and  then  dividing  them,  so  that  each  one  shall  belong 
to  his  proper  class,  irresistibly  fix  the  impression,  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  figures,  of  a  serious  and  careful  work  of  time.  The 
work  is  also  to  be  executed  by  the  ministry  of  the  angels  of  him  who 
makes  his  angels  ministers  ;  which  renders  the  whole  matter  entirely 
consistent  with  these  angels  being  the  ministers  who  preach  the  ever- 
lasting Gospel  to  those  who  dwell  on  the  earth,  in  the  hour  or  time 
of  judgment. 

But  it  may  be  objected  here,  that  neither  of  these  representations 
shows  any  change  from  any  evil  subject  or  being  to  the  good ;  no 
tares  are  converted  into  wheat,  no  bad  fish  into  good,  no  goats  into 
sheep  ;  consequently,  according  to  these  representations,  no  wicked 
men  are  converted  into  righteous  men,  in  that  day  of  which  these 
things  are  spoken,  called  the  end  of  the  world,  or  day  cf  judgment .  To 
obviate  this  reasoning,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  natural  crea- 
tion, according  to  its  own  laws,  does  not  admit  of  such  conversions. 
And  it  is  not  the  order  or  law  of  parables  or  metaphors  to  subvert  the 
regular  laws  of  nature.  It  is  therefore  not  strange,  neither  is  it  incon- 
sistent with  the  doctrine  here  contended  for,  that  there  is  no  mention 
of  any  such  conversions  in  any  of  these  figurative  representations. 
These  remarks  will  apply  to  the  parable  of  the  wise  and  foolish  vir- 
gins, and  many  others  by  which  the  procedure  of  the  day  of  God  is 
represented  :  they  are  counted  foolish  virgins,  and  neglecters  of  the 
Gospel  invitation,  who  remain  such  until  their  day  is  done.  But 
other  Scriptures  of  which  we  have  had  a  view,  afford  satisfactory  and 
conclusive  reasons  to  believe  that  repentance  and  the  remission  of 
sins  will  be  found  in  the  hour  of  judgment. 

The  above  objection  would  equally  militate  against  the  efficacy  of 
the  Gospel  to  convert  men  from  wicked  to  righteous,  at  any  time,  or 
against  its  opening  such  a  privilege,  if  it  must  be  tried  according  to 
some  of  the  parables  or  sayings  which  he  delivered,  and  which  ap- 
peared to  confine  his  mission  to  those  who  were  beforehand  in  pos- 
session of  the  appropriate  character  of  his  people  or  property.  "  I 
am  not  sent  but  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  (Mat.  xv. 
24.)  "  And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold  :  them 
also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice  ;  and  there  shall  be 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  401 

one  fold  and  one  shepherd."  (Jno.  x.  16.)  So  that  saying  of  Peter, 
"  For  ye  were  as  sheep  going  astray ;  but  are  now  returned  to  the 
shepherd  and  bishop  of  your  souls."  (1  Pet.  ii.  25.)  In  all  these 
cases  and  more  which  might  be  adduced,  the  people  called  sheep 
were  previously  to  their  calling  by  the  Gospel,  of  the  wicked,  and 
therefore  as  properly  goats,  or  dogs,  as  others  are  before  they  have  a 
trial  by  the  Gospel.  But  it  is  not  to  be  expected,  that  the  nature  and 
design  of  the  second  appearing  of  Christ  would  be  as  clearly  develop- 
ed, so  long  beforehand  as  in  the  opening  of  the  day. 

Before  I  dismiss  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  will  be  proper  to  in- 
stance one  other  Scripture  relating  to  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
and  the  rather  because  it  is  alleged  by  some  as  a  proof  of  an  instan- 
taneous work.  "  For  as  the  lightning  cometli  out  of  the  east,  and 
shinetk  even  unto  the  west ;  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man 
be."  (Matt.  xxiv.  27.)  The  argument  for  the  instantaneous  appear- 
ing of  Christ,  and  at  the  same  time  universal,  and  for  the  sudden 
accomplishment  of  the  whole  work,  seems  to  be  grounded  on  the 
term,  lighlnmg^  which  is  used  in  the  common  English  reading,  and  is 
supposed  to  denote  those  streams  of  elemental  fire,  or  electrical  fluid, 
which  appear  in  our  atmosphere  commonly  attended  with  thunder, 
and  called  lightning.  But  a  few  remarks  on  the  passage  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  resolve  all  doubts  with  the  candid.  The  original  word  here 
translated,  lightning,  signifies  any  glittering  brightness,  or  shining 
light,  and  would  well  express  the  fulgor  of  the  bright  luminaries  in  the 
visible  heavens,  as  of  the  stars,  not  being  unlike  a  derivative  of  the 
Greek  term,  dtfTiip  [aster],  which  signifies  a  star,  and  jocttw  [iapto],to 
send  forth.  And  although  it  is  not  improperly  translated,  lightning^ 
in  different  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  the  attending  circumstances 
sufficiently  show,  that  the  prediction  will  by  no  means  agree  to  that 
acceptation  of  it  here,  as  we  commonly  understand  the  term,  lightning. 
That  lightning,  or  light,  to  which  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  is 
compared,  "  cometh  out  of  the  east,  and  shineth  even  to  the  west," 
so  as  to  include  the  whole  circuit  of  the  earth.  Or  as  Luke  has  it : 
"  For  as  the  lightning,  that  lightneth  out  of  one  part  under  heaven 
shineth  to  the  other  part  under  heaven  ;  so  shall  the  Son  of  man  be 
in  his  day."  (Luke  xvii.  24.)  He  will  continue  to  shine  until  all  and 
every  part  under  heaven  be  illuminated.  But  what  is  commonly 
called  lightning,  has  no  peculiar  direction  from  east  to  west ;  neither 
when  it  bursts  from  one  part  under  heaven  does  it  shine  to  another 
part  under  heaven,  so  as  to  become  at  all  universally  visible,  but  it 
might  shine  for  hours,  days  or  years,  if  the  elementary  laws  would 
continue  it,  and  the  inhabitants  only  a  few  miles  distant  see  nothing  of 
it.  Besides,  it  has  its  direction,  either  immediately  to  the  earth,  or 
to  some  conducting  or  attracting  body,  or  where  the  heaviest  train  is 
laid,  according  to  its  own  laws,  perhaps  the  least  understood  of  any 
other  on  earth,  and  has  no  part  in  the  common  illumination  of  the 
world. 

But  all  that  lightning,  or  glittering  light,  which,  according  to  com- 
mon language  and  conception,  comes  out  of  the  east  and  without  in- 
termission or  interruption,  moves  forward  until  it  shines  even  to  the 
west  in  every  part  of  the  earth,  so  that  all  behold  the  same  light  in  its 
course,  as  the  light  of  the  sun  and  other  heavenly  luminaries,  is  a  pro- 
27 


402  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

per  emblem  of  the  Son  of  man  in  Ms  day,  whom  every  eye  shall  see. 
But  as  this  light  mores  gradually,  according  to  the  laws  of  nature,  so 
that  every  one  may  improve  the  light  to  his  comfort  and  advantage, 
while  it  shines  ;  so  the  Son  of  man,  according  to  the  law  of  his  grace, 
will  give  to  every  one  an  opportunity  to  gather  fruit  and  lay  it  up  for 
eternal  life.  But  as  the  sluggard  shall  beg  in  harvest  and  have  no- 
thing ;  so  they  who  stumble  at  the  cross,  being  disobedient,  will  not 
find  salvation,  in  the  midst  of  all  this  grace. 

As  an  equitable  and  just  prince,  who  has  conquered,  or  is  fully 
able  to  conquer,  a  country  of  rebels,  having  made  good  an  entrance, 
sets  up  his  standard,  and  erects  his  throne  of  judgment,  proclaim- 
ing universal  amnesty  to  all  who  will  confess  their  rebellion, 
lay  down  their  opposition,  and  become  hearty  subjects  of  his  gov- 
ernment, learning  to  do  his  will  in  all  things,  so  Christ,  in  his  last 
coming,  and  the  setting  up  of  his  everlasting  kingdom,  issixes  forth 
the  benevolent  proclamation  of  pardon  and  peace  to  all  who  are  truly 
willing  to  confess  their  sins,  nail  their  rebellious  nature  to  the 
same  cross  which  Jesus  bore,  renounce  their  own  will  and  become 
heartily  subject  in  all  things  to  the  will  of  God.  And  this  proclama- 
tion is  made  without  any  respect  of  persons,  or  any  other  condition 
than  ivhosoemr  will ;  and  to  men  of  all  ranks,  the  various  pursuits  and 
prospects  of  the  world  notwithstanding,  to  call  in  a  willing  people  out 
of  all  nations  to  the  standard  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  "  For  in  the 
last  days  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the  mountain  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  it  shall  be 
exalted  above  the  hills  ;  and  the  people  shall  flow  into  it.  And  many 
nations  shall  come  and  say.  Come,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of 
the  Lord,  and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob  ;  and  he  shall  teach 
us  of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths  :  for  the  law  shall  go 
forth  of  Zion,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem.  And  he 
shall  judge  among  many  people,  and  rebuke  strong  nations  afar  off; 
and  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plough-shares,  and  their  spears 
into  pruning-hooks  :  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 
neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more."  [This  shall  be  the  result  of 
the  law  and  government  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.]  "  But  they  shall 
sit  every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree  ;  and  none  shall 
make  them  afraid  ;  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  spoken 
it.  For  all  people  will  walk  every  one  in  the  name  of  his  God,  and 
we  will  walk  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God  for  ever  and  ever.  In 
that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  assemble  her  that  halteth,  and  I  will 
gather  her  that  is  driven  out,  and  her  that  I  have  afilicted  ;  and  I  will 
make  her  that  halteth  a  remnant,  and  her  that  was  cast  far  off  a  strong 
nation ;  and  the  Lord  shall  reign  over  them  in  mount  Zion  from  hence- 
forth, ewem /or  ercr."     (Mic.  iv.  1-7.) 

Thus  while  he  shall  dwell  in  Zion  and  issue  forth  his  law,  he  shall 
judge  among  many  people  ;  and  the  result  thereof  shall  be  peace 
among  all  nations  ;  to  the  once  halting  Church  of  God,  and  to  all  who 
join  themselves  to  her,  and  the  Lord  shall  reign  over  them  in  mount 
Zion  for  ever.  That  the  effectuation  of  all  these  things  is  not  an  in- 
stantaneous work  but  requires  a  series  of  time,  needs  not  be  denied. 
The  notion  of  an  instantaneous  establishment  of  universal  happiness 
and  peace,  is  indeed  sufficiently  preposterous,  as  some  seem  to  have  it, 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  403 

who  reject  the  testimony  of  that  happy  period  as  having  commenced, 
because  the  nations  are  yet  learning  war,  not  considering  that  peace 
is  to  be  the  result  of  that  day,  which  is  to  be  ushered  in  with  great  trou- 
ble and  distress.  "  And  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never 
was  since  there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time  :  and  at  that  time 
thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be  found  written  in 
the  book."  (Dan.  xii.  1.)  "  Better  is  the  end  of  a  thing  than  the 
beginning  thereof."     (Eccl.  vii.  8.) 

Now  with  respect  to  the  commencement  of  the  everlasting  king- 
dom, or  the  judgment  of  the  world,  many  have  laboured  abundantly 
to  find  what  and  what  manner  of  time  that  should  be.  But  the  words 
which  have  prophesied  of  that  time,  have  been  closed  up  and  sealed 
till  the  time  of  the  end.  We  have  paid  some  attention  to  a  late 
writer  who  has  acknowledged  with  caution,  that  the  morning  had 
dawned,  and  who  also  stated  that  this  sentiment  is  extensively  em- 
braced. But  others  fix  the  time  to  a  period  yet  to  come.  In  a  pamph- 
let written  a  few  years  ago,  in  Carolina,  by  William  C.  Davis,  the 
commencement  of  the  Millennium,  or  reign  of  Christ  on  earth,  is  with 
much  confidence,  fixed  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  forty-seven, 
or  eight.  Davis's  method  of  calculation  is  ingenious  and  indicative 
of  wisdom.  But  as  the  words  are  closed  up  and  sealed  until  the  time 
of  the  end,  and  that  can  be  known  by  its  own  light  only,  it  is  not 
strange  that  they  who  are  not  in  the  light  should  be  always  found  in 
more  or  less  mistake,  both  with  respect  to  what  time  and  what  manner 
of  time  that  day  is. 

The  calculation  made  by  Davis  is  grounded  on  two  prophetic  Scrip- 
tures, the  periods  of  which  he  has  considered  as  commencing  at  the 
same  time  ;  so  that  they  serve  as  two  parts  of  a  clue  or  key  to  the 
prophecies  which  designate  the  time  of  commencement.  The  first 
part  of  the  clue  is  this  :  (Dan.  viii.  13.  14  :)  "  Then  I  heard  one 
saint  speaking,  and  another  saint  said  unto  that  certain  saint  who 
spake,  How  long  shall  be  the  vision  concerning  the  daily  sacrifice,  and 
the  transgression  of  desolation,  to  give  both  the  sanctuary  and  the  host 
to  be  trodden  under  foot }  And  he  said  unto  me,  Unto  two  thousand 
and  three  hundred  days  ;  then  shall  the  sanctuary  be  cleansed  :"  or 
as  the  marginal  reading  and  the  Hebrew  text  say  ;  "  Then  shall  the 
sanctuary  be  justified  ;"  the  living  temple,  or  Church  of  God.  The 
aforesaid  William  Davis  has  very  justly  stated  that  the  end  of  these 
2,300  days  is  the  restoration,  or  as  we  may  say,  commencement  of  the 
true  worship  of  God  in  the  Church,  or  the  beginning  of  the  Millennium. 

The  second  part  of  the  clue  is  this  :  (Dan.  ix.  24,  &c.  :)  "  Seventy 
weeks  are  determined  upon  thy  people,  and  upon  thy  holy  city,  to 
finish  the  transgression,  and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make  re- 
conciliation for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness, 
[or  the  righteousness  of  the  everlasting  ones,  or  saints,]  and  to  seal 
up  the  vision  and  the  prophecy,  and  to  anoint  the  Most  Holy,  [the 
holy  of  holies,  that  is,  the  habitation  of  God.]  Know,  therefore, 
•and  understand,  that  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to 
restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem  unto  Messiah  the  Prince,  shall  be 
seven  weeks,  and  threescore  and  two  weeks ;  the  street  shall  be 
built  again,  and  the  wall,  even  in  troublous  times.  And  after 
threescore   and  two  weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut   off,  but  not  for 


404  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

himself  : — And  he  shall  confirm  the  covenant  with  many  for  one 
week  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall  cause  the  sacrifice  and 
the  oblation  to  cease."  This  prophecy  is  supposed  to  include,  in 
clear  terms,  the  grand  criterion  by  which  the  times  are  to  be  known. 
I  shall  not  transcribe  his  words,  they  are  too  many,  and  mingled  with 
unnecessary  remarks  as  to  the  present  inquiry.  The  reader  may  con- 
sult his  pamphlet,  called  the  Millennium.  But  his  reasonings 
are  to  the  following  amount :  That  after  seven  weeks  and  three- 
score and  two  weeks  ;  which  make  sixty-nine  weeks,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  last  or  seventieth  week,  from  the  going  forth  of  the 
commandment  to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem,  the  Messiah  was 
cut  off,  or  crucified.  Now  70  weeks  are  490  days,  or  years,  count- 
ing a  day  for  a  year  in  prophetic  language.  And  to  place  the  cruci- 
fixion in  the  midst  of  the  last  week,  shows  that  Christ  was  cruci- 
fied in  the  four  hundred  and  eighty-sixth  year  after  the  going  forth  of 
the  commandment,  and  in  the  thirty- fourth  year  of  his  own  age. 
The  other  part  of  the  clue,  the  2,300  days,  or  years,  our  author  argues, 
commenced  with  the  70  weeks  ;  [here,  it  will  be  found,  he  is  in  an 
error,]  and  that  by  subtracting  37  years  (the  age  of  Christ  when  cru- 
cified being  thirty-three  and  a  half,  and  allowing  three  and  a  half,  the 
last  half  of  the  seventieth  week,  to  the  Jews,  before  the  Gospel  was 
sent  to  the  Gentiles)  from  the  2,300,  there  remain  453  before  the 
Christian  Era  ;  which  being  subtracted  from  the  2,300,  leave  1847  to 
come  out  of  the  Christian  Era,  before  the  commencement  of  the  Mil- 
lennium :  that  in  that  year  therefore,  or  the  next,  (admitting  one  year 
of  an  error  in  our  calculation  of  the  Christian  Era,)  the  Millennium 
wUl  surely  commence. 

Or  the  calculation  may  be  made  thus.  The  Christian  Era  being 
counted  from  the  birth  of  Christ ;  he  is  said  by  Luke  to  have  been 
about  thirty  years  of  age  when  he  was  baptized  of  John,  and  receiv- 
ed the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  was  thus  inaugurated  according  to 
the  correct  order  of  God,  into  the  ministry  and  work  which  the  Father 
had  sent  him  to  perform.  He  ministered  three  years  and  a  half,  and 
was  cut  off.  Or  crucified,  in  the  midst  of  the  week,  or  last  seven  years, 
of  the  70  weeks,  or  490  years,  from  the  going  forth  of  the  command- 
ment. Thirty-seven  years  therefore  are  to  be  subtracted  from  the 
490  ;  which  leave  453,  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to 
the  birth  of  Christ,  or  first  of  the  Christian  Era  ;  which  being  sub- 
tracted from  2,300,  leave  1847. 

The  calculation  of  the  70  weeks  appears  to  be  not  only  ingenious 
but  correct.  But  to  fix  the  commencement  of  the  2,300  days  at  the 
going  forth  of  the  commandment,  is  erroneous.  For  in  the  first 
place  divine  revelation  has  given  no  authority  ;  it  has  not  made  any 
mention  of  such  a  point  of  time  for  the  commencement  of  those  days. 
And  should  any  man  ask  me  how  long  shall  it  be  until  the  restoration 
of  the  captives,  and  I  answer  until  1,500  days  ;  would  any  one,  who 
heard  our  communications,  fix  the  commencement  of  those  days  to 
some  after  period,  and  not  rather  count  from  the  time  of  the  conver- 
sation, or  from  the  beginning  of  the  captivity  .-'  The  captivity  of  the 
Jews  had  been  going  on  for  more  than  fifty  years,  when  the  prophecy 
of  the  2,300  days  was  given  to  Daniel ;  and  the  commencement  of 
the  70  weeks  was  long  enough  after,  to  fulfill  70  years  of  captivity  ; 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  405 

if  we  count  the  decree  of  Cyrus  the  matter  designated  in  the  vision. 
But  not  a  word  in  the  Scriptures  to  intimate  that  the  two  periods 
commenced  together.  As  to  our  author's  arguing  that  the  latter 
vision  was  an  explanation  of  the  former,  it  is  all  conjecture  and 
hypothesis,  with  respect,  at  least,  to  its  unfolding  or  showing  its  com- 
mencement ;  for  not  one  expression  is  in  the  second  to  indicate  such 
a  matter. 

But  to  the  453  years,  which  remain  from  the  490,  or  70  weeks,  after 
the  37  of  the  Christian  Era  are  left  out,  add  the  70  years  of  the  Jews' 
captivity,  and  they  make  523,  which  subtracted  from  2,300,  leave 
1777,  of  the  Christian  Era,  and  so  mark  that  year,  1777,  as  the  time 
for  the  sanctuary  to  be  qjeansed  ;  about  30  years  after  the  true  light 
first  dawned  in  England  to  effect  that  object.  About  this  time,  or 
early  in  the  year  80,  the  testimony  of  the  everlasting  Gospel  began 
to  be  publicly  opened  in  America,  and  mankind  were  invited  into  the 
sanctuary  :  but  the  sanctuary,  or  Church,  was  not  established  in  full 
order,  until  the  year  1792  ;  45  years  after  the  first  dawn  of  the  true 
light ;  according  to  the  words  of  Daniel  :  "  And  from  the  time  that 
the  daily  sacrifice  shall  be  taken  away,  and  the  abomination  that 
maketh  desolate  set  up,  there  shall  be  a  thousand  two  hundred  and 
ninety  days.  Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth,  and  cometh  to  the  thousand 
three  hundred  and  five  and  thirty  days."  (Dan.  xii.  11,  12.)  Until 
that  year  the  true  order  of  the  new  creation  in  Christ  was  not  fully 
known.  But  it  then  began  to  be  known  ;  and  has  continued  ever 
since.  The  Church  had  been  measurably  gathered  before,  and  there 
was  a  sharp  ministration  preparing  the  way  for  perfect  order  :  but 
there  were  no  regular  orderly  gifts  or  lots  of  continual  standing,  as 
Elders,  Deacons,  or  Elder  brethren  and  sisters.  But  at  that  time, 
the  lots,  gifts,  and  privileges  of  the  members  of  the  body  were  found, 
both  in  the  male  and  female.  Elders  were  found  in  the  line  of  the  one 
and  the  other.  Deacons  and  Deaconesses  ;  Elder  brethren  and  sis- 
ters ;  each  in  their  proper  line,  found  their  places  and  their  duty  in 
the  proper  order  of  the  new  creation  in  Christ,  and  the  perfection 
and  blessedness  of  the  Church  began  to  appear.  The  spiritual  union 
between  the  two,  who  are  the  first  parents  of  the  new  creation,  was 
never  openly  exhibited  on  earth,  in  their  proper  persons ;  but  it  now 
began  to  appear  in  their  faithful  seed,  as  the  true  order  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  on  earth,  that  kingdom  of  heaven  which  is  to  abide  for- 
ever and  ever. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  prophecy  of  the  2,300  days  is  dated  in 
the  chronological  notes  in  the  large  Bibles,  in  the  year  553  before 
Christ ;  and  by  counting  those  days  to  commence  then,  they  end  in 
the  year  1747  of  the  Christian  Era  ;  the  very  year  when  the  true 
light  sprung  up.  So  that  by  these  different  calculations,  or  by  either 
of  them,  the  time  has  come.  But  as  these  chronologies  are  at  best 
uncertain,  or  rather  certainly  incorrect,  most  of  them  by  many  years, 
as  the  light  of  the  kingdom  increases  the  truth  will  be  known  with- 
out them.  For  the  light  of  that  day  is  that  which  alone  will  fully 
reveal  to  men,  especially  to  those  who  are  in  it,  for  none  of  the  wicked 
shall  understand  ;  but  the  wise  shall  understand^  when  and  what  manner 
of  time  that  day  is.  And  as  fast  as  it  is  made  known,  it  will  be 
found  to  answer  to  the  prophecies  of  the  Scriptures,  which  cannot  be 
broken. 


406  OP    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

But  in  vain  does  any  man  attempt  to  tell  the  commencement  of 
that  time  and  day  by  the  letter  of  the  prophecies.      Although  there 
is  a  propriety  in  studying  them  and  may  be  often  an  advantage  ;  and 
so  much  the  more  as  we  see  the  day  approaching  ;  that  men  may  be 
in  readiness  to  receive  the  kingdom  as  it  appears  to  them.      But 
it  is  evident  that  prophecies   were  not  intended  to  be  understood, 
neither  in  their  numbers,  times  and  seasons,  which  generally  were 
designedly  delivered  in  obscurity,  nor  the  things  themselves  which 
were  predicted,  they  being  generally  delivered'  in  symbols  and  me- 
taphors,   and  the   like,   until   the    times    of  their    accomplishment. 
*'  We  have  also  a  more  sure  [^s/3aioTSpov,  more  permanent  or  steady] 
word  of  prophecy  ;  whereunto  ye   do  well  to  take  heed,  as  unto  a 
light  that  shineth  in  a  dark  place,  until  the  day  dawn  and  the  day-star 
arise  in  your  hearts  ;  knowing  this  first,"  (that  ye  may  have  aright 
understanding  of  the  subject,)  "that  no  prophecy  of  Scripture  is  of 
any  private  interpretation.     For  the  prophecy  came  not  in  old  time 
by  the  will  of  man  ;"    [else  men  might  understand   and  interpret 
it.     "  For  what  man  knoweth  the  things  of  a  man  save  the  spirit  of 
man  which  is  in  him  ?"]   "  but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."     The  same  Holy  Ghost,  therefore,  must 
interpret  these  prophecies  ;  for  "  Even  so  knoweth  no  man  the  things 
of  God,  but  the  Spirit  of  God."  (2  Pet.  i.  19,20,  21  ;  1  Cor.  ii.  11.) 
Now  it  is  evident  enough  the  aforesaid  William  Davis  is  wrong  in 
his  calculation  of  the  time  for  the  commencement  of  the  Millennium, 
or  day  of  Christ's  setting  tip  his  everlasting  kingdom.     For  accord- 
ing to  him  it  is  not  yet  come  ;  and  until  then  the  time  cannot  be 
known  ;  which  is  yet  farther  evident  from  the  following  considera- 
tions:    "  Of  that  day  and   hour  knoweth  no  man  ;"  until  it  come  ; 
"  For  the  words  are  closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end." 
If  therefore  the  time  of  the   end  of  the   desolation  be  not  come  ;  if 
the   everlasting  kingdom  be   not  begun,  our  author  is  wrong  in  his 
calculation,  being  ignorant  of  the  whole  matter  ;  for  the  words  are 
yet  closed  up  and  sealed,  and  neither  he  nor  any  other  man  knows 
what  or  ivhat  manner  of  time  that  shall  be.     But  if  the  time  is  come, 
and  the  everlasting  kingdom  begun,  which  is  the  existing   truth,  he 
is  wrong  ;  for  he  has  fixed  it  to  about  thirty  years  yet   to    come. 
"  And  none  of  the  wicked  shall  understand  ;  but  the  wise  shall  un- 
derstand." 

Nevertheless,  his  calculation  is  so  important,  and  so  correct  in 
some  part,  as  it  proves  with  great  propriety  that  the  commencement 
of  the  Millennium,  or  everlasting  kingdom,  cannot  be  later  than  his 
calculation,  that  it  is  not  an  undesirable  thing  that  people  should  be- 
come acquainted  with  it  and  understand  it  correctly  ;  so  that  they 
•vyho  cannot,  or  rather  will  not,  be  convinced  of  the  day  in  which  they 
live,  may  at  the  end  of  that  calculation,  be  so  far  overcome,  as  to 

consent  to  receive  the  work  of  God  in  his  own  order,  when  they  see 
nothing  come  forth  to  answer  their  own  sense  or  to  fill  their  expecta- 

ions.  In  the  mean  time,  much  credit  is  due  to  the  light  and  wisdom 
twhich  appears  in  that  calculation  ;  and  the  author  is  not  unjustly 
esteemed  as  an  instance  of  the  fulfillment  of  that  prophecy  of  Daniel ; 
"  Many  shall  run  to  and  fro,  [while  they  know  not  where  to  fix,]  and 
knowledge  shall  be  increased."  Let  every  man  have  his  due  j  and 
God  the  glory. 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  407 

This  is  that  day  of  the  Lord,  which  has  already  begun  to  shine 
forth  on  the  earth,  to  which  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  the 
prophets  directed  their  prophetic  language  ;  and  the  day  to  which 
the  same  Spirit  directed  Peter  and  the  rest  of  the  apostles  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost ;  and  to  which  he  directed  the  people  after  he,  with  John, 
had  healed  the  lame  man.  "  Repent  ye,  therefore,  and  be  converted, 
[sifidTpi-^ars,  convert,]  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out,  when  the 
times  of  refreshing  shall  come  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  he 
shall  send  Jesus  Christ  who  before  was  preached  unto  you ;  whom 
the  heaven  must  receive  until  the  times  of  restitution  of  all  things, 
which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  began."  I  am  indeed  aware  that  the  translation  of  this 
Scripture  is  disputed  ;  and  it  is  argued  that  in  its  correct  design  and 
acceptation,  it  is  no  proof  of  an  after  dispensation.  But  in  the  com- 
mon translation,  it  contains  nothing  more  than  the  same  Apostle 
has  taught,  speaking  of  those  who  believed  in  that  day  ;  "  Who  are 
kept  by  the  power  of  God,  through  faith  unto  salvation  ready  to  be 
revealed  in  the  last  time.''''  Therefore  not  yet  known;  for  they  were 
not  yet  in  possession,  but  [xo(X(.^o'(ji-£vot]  "  Carefully  pursuing  the  end 
of  their  faith — the  salvation  of  their  souls."  And  a  little  after  he 
says  :  "  Wherefore  gird  up  the  loins  of  your  mind,  be  sober,  and 
hope  to  the  end  for  the  grace  "  that  is  to  be  brought  to  you  at  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ.''^  (1  Pet.  i.  5,  9,  13.)  Thus  he  directed 
the  believers  to  look  forward  to  the  second  or  last  revelation  of 
Christ  for  finished  salvation,  because  the  first  revelation  had  al- 
ready come. 

I  grant  the  words  are  not  as  literally  translated  as  they  might  be  ; 
for  I  know  no  reason  for  translating  a  past  tense  of  the  subjunctive 
mood  by  the  future  indicative.  But  all  that  can  be  gained  by  an 
exact  translation  will  not  prevent  the  relation  which  that  text  has  to 
the  appearing  or  sending  of  Jesus  Christ  in  a  future  day.  For 
[oVwj  ctv]  the  phrase  rendered  when,  is  never  used  by  the  apostles, 
except  in  connection  with  the  subjunctive  mood,  and  with  respect  to 
futurity.  "  Repent,  therefore,  and  be  converted,  [or  convert,]  for 
the  blotting  out  of  your  sins  ;  that  the  times  of  refreshing  may  come 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  he  may  send  [dtfotfrsiXr)]  Jesus 
Christ,  who  hath  been  preached  to  you  beforehand,  whom  heaven 
must  have  received  until  the  times  of  the  restitution  of  all  things,  of 
which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets  in  the 
time  past.  For  Moses  truly  said  unto  the  fathers,  A  prophet  shall 
the  Lord  your  God  raise  up  unto  you,  of  your  brethren,  like  unto 
me  ;  him  shall  ye  hear  in  all  things  whatsoever  he  shall  say  unto  you. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  soul  who  will  not  hear  that  pro- 
phet, shall  be  destroyed  from  among  the  people.  Yea,  and  all  the 
prophets  from  Samuel,  and  those  that  follow  after,  as  many  as  have 
spoken,  have  likewise  foretold  of  these  days."  (Acts  iii.  19-24.) 

Now  it  is  evident  that  the  times  of  the  restitution  of  all  things,  of 
which  God  had  spoken  by  the  prophets,  had  not  then  come  ;  for  the 
falling  away  had  not  yet  come,  which  was  to  precede  those  times. 
But  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  looked  forward  with  such  earnestness  to 
the  latter  days,  as  the  time  of  accomplishing  the  glorious  and  mighty 
works  of  God  in  his  Church,  that  the  lesser  changes  which  were  to 


408  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

intervene  were  sometimes  passed  over  without  notice.  Thus  the  two 
thousand  and  three  hundred  days,  predicted  hy  Daniel,  seem  to  have 
included  all  the  time  from  the  captivity  of  the  Jews  by  the  king  of 
Babylon  to  the  commencement  of  the  final  purification  of  the  Church 
and  the  setting  up  of  the  everlasting  kingdom  in  the  second  coming 
of  Christ ;  without  so  much  as  noticing  the  partial  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  before  the  coming  of  Christ ;  the  introduction  of  the  Gospel  in 
his  first  appearing  ;  or  the  rise  and  reign  of  the  beast,  or  Antichrist. 
In  like  manner  the  Spirit  in  Peter  pointed  directly  to  the  latter  days 
or  times  of  the  restitution  of  all  things,  when  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  should  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  and 
there  should  be  one  Lord  and  his  name  one  :  for  all  this  was  included 
in  the  things  of  which  God  had  spoken  by  his  prophets.  But  these 
times  were  not  to  come  until  the  seventh  angel  should  sound.  Thus 
these  sayings  of  Peter  agree  with  what  he  wrote  afterwards,  giving 
counsel  to  believers  how  they  ought  to  live  ;  "  Looking  for  and  hast- 
ing unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God  ;"  as  though  it  had  been  close 
at  hand.  And  on  this  principle,  that  the  spirit  of  prophecy  looked 
so  intensely  towards  the  latter  day,  or  times  of  restitution  and  glory, 
we  may  account  for  the  trouble  and  uneasiness  among  the  believers 
of  Thessalonica,  as  though  the  day  of  the  Lord  were  at  hand ;  which 
occasioned  Paul  to  write  to  them  not  to  be  soon  shaken  in  mind  or 
troubled,  for  that  day  should  not  come  except  there  come  a  falling 
away  first,  and  that  lawless,  or  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  whom  the  Lord 
would  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth  and  destroy  with  the 
brightness  of  his  appearing.  But  the  day  is  now  come  ;  and  is  as  a 
snare  on  all  the  earth. 

But  the  length  of  time  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
work,  is  no  argument  against  the  suddenness  of  its  introduction,  or  the 
sudden  awaking  of  those  who  are  asleep,  when  the  voice  of  the  trum- 
pet reaches  them.  So  that  the  awaking  of  those  who  are  asleep,  and 
the  equivalent  change  in  those  who  are  not  asleep,  at  least  in  the  same 
sense,  when  compared  with  the  same  length  of  time  which  the  pro- 
phets and  martyrs  have  been  waiting  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  may  in 
prophetic  style  be  said  to  take  place  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of 
an  eye.  But  it  does  not  appear  fair  arguing,  in  those  who  understand 
the  nature  of  language,  to  insist  that  the  Apostle,  by  that  phraseolo- 
gy, teaches  that  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  the  living 
experience  an  equivalent  change,  literally  in  the  period  of  time  there 
marked.  The  words,  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the 
last  trump,  are  detached  from  those  which  follow,  For  the  trumpet 
shall  sound  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible  and  we  shall  be 
changed,  by  that  state  or  structure  of  language,  called  a  parenthesis, 
and  properly  relate  to  that  change  which  is  equivalent  to  the  waking 
of  those  who  are  asleep. 

"  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead."  It  is  quite 
a  natural  thing  for  those  who  are  asleep  to  awake,  and  for  those  who 
are  not  asleep,  in  the  same  sense  or  degree,  to  undergo  a  sudden 
change  of  state  by  the  blast  of  a  loud  trumpet,  which  comes  after 
being  expected,  with  the  most  momentous  news.  This  may  be  in  the 
things  of  nature  ;  and  it  will  be  granted  by  all  judicious  and  consider- 
ate people,  that  the  Apostle  here  uses  metaphorical  language,  repre- 


OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT.  409 

senting  spiritual  things  by  natural  ;  some  general  resemblance  there- 
fore is  to  be  expected.  After  waking,  which  is  readily  effected  by  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet  alone,  follows  arising  from  the  dead,  which  is 
the  duty  of  the  awakened  subject,  and  on  which  the  promise  of  light 
from  Christ  depends.  "  Wherefore  come  out  from  among  them,  and 
be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing ;  and 
I  will  receive  you."  (2  Cor.  vi.  17.)  After  receiving  the  light,  the 
next  thing  in  course  is  to  enter  on  the  duties  of  the  day.  It  is  an 
egregious  error,  however  common,  to  suppose  that  the  works  pertain- 
ing to  the  coming  of  Christ  to  judgment  are  all  done  in  an  instant.  It 
is  common  to  all  God's  dealings  with  men  to  proceed  by  successive 
steps,  and  there  is  no  unambiguous  authority  that  he  ever  intends  to 
depart  from  that  method.  The  apprehension  of  a  momentary  or  in- 
stantaneous effectuation  of  the  resurrection  and  judgment  has  unques- 
tionably arisen  from  considering  metaphorical  language  in  its  appro- 
priate meaning,  while  the  subject  in  the  true  spirit  of  it  was  misun- 
derstood. That  apprehension  is  also  contrary  to  by  far  the  greatest 
part  even  of  that  kind  of  language  used  in  the  Scriptures  on  that 
subject. 

Shall  not  the  judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right .?  Shall  God  con- 
sign the  immensurable  majority  of  mankind  to  eternal  damnation, 
hopelessly  excluded  from  the  peaceful  society  of  the  just,  who  have 
hitherto  remained  in  invincible  ignorance  of  the  way  of  salvation  ? 
Ignorance  invincible  without  farther  light  and  revelation  from  God  ! 
For  it  is  found  by  painful  experience,  that  with  all  the  knowledge 
which  men  can  obtain  by  the  letter,  multitudes  remain  in  total  igno- 
rance of  salvation.  They  cannot  gain  power  over  sin  ;  they  are  over- 
come by  it,  and  are  therefore  in  bondage  to  it,  and  consequently,  by 
the  authority  of  that  same  word,  excluded  from  the  society  of  the 
blest.  Some,  whether  to  alleviate  the  allegation  of  injustice  against 
God,  and  to  dissipate  the  clouds  of  horror,  or  from  whatever  cause, 
have  palmed  on  God  a  contrivance,  that  all  have  light  enough  to  leave 
them  without  excuse,  but  not  sufficient  for  their  salvation.  An  alle- 
gation this,  which  could  not  comport  with  the  honest  reputation  of 
the  weakest  man  on  earth  ;  and  how  shall  it  apply  to  the  infinitely 
wise  and  just  God  .''  Who  cannot  in  one  moment  see  the  fallacy  and 
iniquity  of  supposing  a  man  inexcusable,  by  having  any  degree  of 
light,  or  any  privilege,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  which  can  show  him 
that  he  is  wrong,  and  ought  to  do  better,  but  does  not  supply  him  with 
means  competent  to  the  end  .''  Sometimes,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
stated,  that  whosoever  will  follow  the  dictates  of  his  own  judgment 
will  end  safely.  But  this  is  the  ground-work  of  infidelity,  the  pivot  on 
which  it  turns,  and  disannuls  or  supersedes  the  Gospel  altogether.  It 
is  indeed  a  reasonable  and  just  position,  that  those  who  honestly  obey 
the  light  which  is  within  their  reach,  and  lie  open  to  conviction,  ready 
to  receive  an  increase,  and  do  not  reject  it  when  offered,  but  perse- 
vere in  their  honesty,  will  in  the  event  find  salvation.  For  to  him  who 
hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance.  But  from  him  who 
hath  not,  (or  does  not  make  his  own  by  right  improvement,)  shall  be 
taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath.  And  in  this  view,  it  may  be 
said  that  men  are  inexcusable  if  they  are  not  saved.  And  this  is  pre- 
cisely the  principle  on  which  the  Apostle  states  that  men  are  without 


410  OF    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

excuse,  their  not  improving  of  tte  degree  of  light  which  they  have. 
"  So  that  they  are  without  excuse  :  because  that  when  they  knew 
God,  they  glorified  him  not  as  God,  neither  were  they  thankful." 
(Rom.  i.  20,  21.)  Herein  also  men  are  justly  criminated,  and  die 
with  a  double,  or  tenfold  damnation,  who  reject  and  disobey,  in  the 
blaze  of  Gospel  day — emphatically  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdi- 
tion of  ungodly  men, 


PART    I  V . 


COMPRISED  IN  THE  SUBSTANCE  OF  A  LETTER  TO  BARTON  W.  STONE. 

SECTION    I. 

OF    FREEDOM    IN    RELIGIOUS    CONVERSATION. 

[The  writer  of  the  following  letter  was  the  intimate  friend  and  associate  of  B.  W.  Stone.  They  had 
both  received  a  liberal  education,  and  possessed  excellent  talents — had  both  been  instructed  in  the  school 
of  Calvinistic  divinity,  and  were  esteemed  active,  pious  and  useful  preachers  of  that  order.  They  were 
also  associates  in  the  Springtield  Presbytery,  and  together  with  a  number  of  others  of  that  association  in 
the  States  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  became  zealous  and  powerful  preachers  in  the  great  revival  which  so 
extensively  prevailed  in  the  Western  States  from  the  year  1800  to  1805,  commonly  called  the  Kentucky 
Revival.  During  the  warmth  of  that  revival,  various  prophetic  declarations  came  forth  and  were  strongly 
maintained  by  these  preachers,  that  another  summer  would  not  pass  away  before  the  great  day  of  the 
Lord  would  be  ushered  in,  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ  commence. 

Accordingly,  the  year  J  805  was  marked  by  the  arrival  of  three  missionaries  from  New  Lebanon,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  who  bore  testimony  to  these  preachers  and  their  people,  that  they  were  commissioned 
and  sent  from  the  Church  at  New  Lebanon,  to  announce  to  them  the  commencement  of  Christ's  king- 
dom on  earth,  and  that  they  were  living  witnesses  to  it — that  Clirist  had  come  to  make  an  end  of  sin  and 
bring  in  an  everlsisting  righteousness — that  all  who  were  desirous  to  find  the  way  of  life  and  salvation, 
were  now  called  to  deny  themselves  of  all  ungodliness  and  every  worldly  lust,  and  take  up  a  daily  cross 
and  follow  Christ  in  the  regeneration. 

When  this  subject  came  to  he  agitated  among  these  preachers  and  their  people,  many  of  the  people 
readily  embraced  their  testimony,  as  did  the  preachers,  John  Duniavy,  Richard  M'Nemar,  and  Mat- 
thew Houston.  B.  W.  Stone  was  at  first  much  taken  with  it,  but  finding  the  cross  against  the  flesh 
too  great  for  him,  being  unwilling  to  sacrifice  all  for  Christ's  sake,  he  fell  back,  and  afterwards  wrote 
against  these  people,  in  which  he  denounced  their  religion  as  a  delusion,  &c.  These  circumstances  gave 
rise  to  the  letter.] 

Barton  : — I  have  inscribed  this  letter  to  you  as  being  the  most  pro- 
per person  to  whom  I  could  direct  it,  to  answer  the  proposed  ends. 
Your  situation  in  religious  life,  and  the  active  part  which  you  take, 
the  liberality  of  your  sentiments,  formerly,  and  your  professedly  re- 
taining the  same  to  this  day,  according  to  the  contents  of  your  Ad- 
dress to  the  Christian  Churches,  and  the  freedom  which  you  have  therein 
used,  on  different  subjects,  together  with  the  impression  that  the  truth 
ought  to  be  fairly  investigated  and  correctly  known  by  all  its  friends, 
have  induced  me  to  use  this  freedom  with  you. 

Nothing  on  this  earth  is  of  such  importance  as  Christianity  ;  and  no 
correspondence  of  the  most  intimate  friendship  can  be  of  such  utility 
to  mankind  as  that  which  promotes  the  increase  of  Gospel  light  and 
knowledge,  and  thereby  leads  to  the  salvation  of  souls.  However  use- 
ful other  employments  may  be  in  their  proper  place,  and  however  ex- 
pedient an  open  and  free  correspondence  on  other  topics,  all  must  yield 
to  Christianity  in  point  of  utility.  "  For  bodily  exercise  profiteth 
little,  but  godliness  is  profitable  to  all  things,  having  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come."  Such  considerations 
as  these  evince  the  necessity  of  openness  and  freedom  among  those  who 
believe  the  truth  of  Christianity,  with  a  readiness  to  give  and  receive 


412  ON  FREEDOM  OF  CONVERSATION. 

every  aid  to  the  ■work.  Nothing  is  more  calculated  to  impede  the 
progress  of  genuine  Christianity,  which  is  itself  most  liberal,  than  a 
spirit  of  censorious  illiberality,  or  an  nn willingness  to  commnnicate 
where  opportunity  is  offered,  or  to  receive  instructions  where  they  can 
be  had :  no  man  is  so  wise  as  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  more  useful 
knowledge.  But  a  peremptoriness  to  reject  and  condemn  those  doc- 
trines and  practices  with  which  we  are  unacquainted  without  a  fair 
examination,  is  too  prevalent  among  those  who  profess  the  Christian 
religion  :  and  especially  when  contrary  to  our  prepossessions,  or  against 
our  inclinations ;  insomuch  that  many  boldly  step  into  the  rank  with 
those  whom  the  Apostle  describes  in  this  emphatical  language  :  "  But 
these  speak  evil  of  the  things  which  they  know  not ;  but  what  they 
know  naturally,  as  brute  beasts,  [irrational  animals,]  in  those  things 
they  corrupt  themselves."  And  these  also  presumed  to  name  the 
name  of  Christ  and  unite  themselves,  by  profession,  to  the  faithful,  as 
appears  from  his  words  a  little  after  :  "  These  are  spots  in  your  feasts 
of  charity,  when  they  feast  with  you,  feeding  themselves  without  fear." 
(Jude  10,  12.) 

Contracted  views,  and  a  contractedness  of  spirit,  being  most  effect- 
ual barriers  to  improvement,  appear  likely  to  prove  the  ruin  of  many  ; 
and  those  too  of  the  zealous,  who  make  to  themselves  no  other  propo- 
sals than  to  make  the  best  improvement  of  what  they  have,  but  at  the 
same  time  scrupulously  reject  every  idea  of  changing  grounds  for  the 
better,  or  of  giving  up  a  single  article  of  that  faith  into  which  they 
have  been  initiated  from  the  beginning.  The  alarming  allegation  of 
changing  religion,  which  with  some  appears  to  be  an  enormous  crime, 
threatens  to  preclude  all  prospect  of  advancement  in  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  his  work  of  salvation,  unless  it  can  be  obtained  where  they 
stand,  whether  on  the  right  foundation  or  not.  And  the  proposals  or 
prospect  of  any  such  change,  is  rebutted  by  such  arguments  as  these  : 
"  He  that  shall  endure  to  the  end  the  same  shall  be  saved."  "  WTiose 
house  are  we,  if  we  hold  fast  the  confidence  and  the  rejoicing  of  the 
hope  firm  to  the  end."  "  Let  us  hold  fast  the  profession  of  our  faith 
without  wavering."  "  Cast  not  away  therefore  yoxu'  confidence  which 
hath  great  recompense  of  reward."  "  Be  not  carried  about  with  divers 
and  strange  doctrines."  "  That  we  be  no  more  children  tossed  to  and 
fro,  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of 
men,  and  cunning  craftiness,  whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive." 
(Matt.  xxiv.  13  ;  Heb.iii.  6,  and  x.  23,35  and  xiii.  9  ;  Eph.  iv.  14.) 
While  those  who  proffer  such  arguments  do  not  correctly  consider  that 
they  are  applicable  to  those  only  who  have  infallible  testimony  that 
they  are  already  built  on  the  only  foundation  which  God  has  laid  in 
Zion,  not  in  name  but  in  works.  "  Not  every  one  who  saith  to  me, 
Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  he  that  doeth 
the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  "  And,  Let  every  one  that 
nameth  the  name  of  Christ  depart  from  iniquity."  (Matt.  vii.  21  ;  2 
Tim.  ii.  19.)  The  application  of  such  Scriptures  as  those  noticed 
above,  by  one  and  another  among  the  mass  of  professors,  with  all  the 
incoherent  sentiments  which  abound,  bears  a  very  different  aspect  from 
their  original  application  to  believers  in  the  one  faith  and  the  one 
Christ,  all  belonging. to  one  body,  and  known  to  belong  to  that  faith 
which  was  exclusively  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  when  all  that  was  neces- 


ON   FREEDOM    OF    CONVERSATION.  413 

sary  to  be  done  was  to  confirm  them  and  build  them  up  in  that  one 
faith.  But  that  kind  of  spirit  which  the  Apostle  reproved  as  being 
Antichristian,  telling  those  who  said,  I  am  of  Paul,  and  I  of  ApoUos, 
that  they  were  carnal  and  not  spiritual,  has  so  far  prevailed,  that  there 
are  as  many  faiths  as  we  find  different  denominations  of  professors, 
and  each  of  these,  in  terms  either  stronger  or  weaker,  announces  itself 
the  true  faith  of  Christ. 

Now  when  a  man  has  honestly  proved  the  faith  and  practice  of  one  so- 
ciety, and  has  not  found  that  which  can  fill  his  soul  and  satisfy  his  con- 
science, to  remove  where  the  evidence  of  the  light  and  truth  of  God  is 
satisfying,  is  no  more  a  violation  of  the  faith  of  Christ  or  a  wresting 
of  the  Scriptures,  than  for  Paul  to  renounce  the  religion  of  the  Jews 
and  become  a  Christian,  or  for  Martin  Luther  to  renounce  Popery  and 
go  in  the  pursuit  of  a  better  religion,  or  for  any  other  man  to  forsake  that 
church  which  has  the  form  of  godliness  but  denies  the  power,  and  unite 
with  the  living  body  :  this  needs  no  proof  but  the  statement.  Should  a 
man  change  his  profession  thus,  ten  times,  as  one  emptied  from  vessel 
to  vessel,  or  tossed  on  the  tempestuous  waves,  until  he  at  last  find  the 
true  body  of  Christ,  (^for  there  is  one  body  and  one  Spirit,)  which  can 
fill  bis  soul,  and  satisfy  his  conscience  in  the  peace  of  God,  he  is,  in  so 
doing,  as  innocent  as  the  Lamb.  For  no  church  can  have  any  just 
claim  to  the  character  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  unless  it  has  resident  in 
it  at  all  times,  that  Gospel  known  to  all  its  members,  which  can  thus  fill 
their  souls,  enabling  them  to  crucify  the  flesh  with  its  affections  and 
lusts,  and  efficaciously  teaching  them  that,  denying  ungodliness  and 
worldly  lusts,  they  should  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly  in  this 
present  world,  and  enabling  them  to  die  to  sin  and  live  to  God  in  the 
Spirit  after  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ.  These  things  are  too  ex- 
pressly scriptural,  as  pertaining  to  the  true  Gospel  of  Christ,  to  need 
logical  argumentation  with  those  who  believe  revelation. 

While  using  this  plainness  of  speech,  I  desire  to  notice  one  thing 
which  is,  as  1  apprehend,  gaining  ground  among  professors,  though 
strictly  a  branch  of  infidelity.  Interrogate  a  professor  closely  on  the 
ground  of  his  faith  and  its  fruits,  or  the  whole  of  his  evidence  for  eter- 
nal life,  and  he  will  often  ward  otf  the  conversation  with  this ;  "  I  am 
willing  to  let  every  one  alone  to  take  the  way  which  he  chooses,  or 
which  he  thinks  is  right."  This  seems  to  be  esteemed  an  eminent  de- 
gree of  Christian  charity,  to  let  others  alone  ;  and  though  you  are  ever 
so  sure  they  are  going  in  the  broad  way  to  destruction,  (and  especially 
if  they  are  professed  Christians,  for  many  such  are  confessedly  in  the 
broad  way,)  put  the  matter  off  with.  It  is  the  way  they  choose  :  for 
every  Chiistian  church  knows  who  are  in  the  way  of  destruction  and 
who  are  in  the  way  of  life. 

Now  the  question  is.  Can  this  be  Christian  charity  or  duty,  to  let 
men  sleep  on,  under  fatal  deception,  when  there  is  access  to  them  .-' 
Or  how  does  such  a  temper  comport  with  the  instructions  and  example 
of  the  apostles  of  Christ  ?  "  Whom  (says  Paul)  we  preach,  warning 
every  man  in  all  wisdom :  that  we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in 
Christ  Jesus."  (Col.  i.  28.)  "  And,  (says  Jude,)  of  some  have  com- 
passion, making  a  difference ;  and  others  save  with  fear,  pulling  them 
out  of  the  fire  ;  hating  even  the  garment  spotted  by  the  flesh."  (ver. 
22,23.)     God  loves  a  cheerful  giver;  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  all 


414  ON    FREEDOM    OF    CONVERSATION. 

Christians  having  the  true  Spirit  of  Christ,  (for  if  any  man  have  not 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of  his,)  are  free  to  impart,  on  any  suit- 
able occasion,  M^hat  they  have  freely  received,  according  to  their  ability 
and  calling.  "  For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  ;  because  we 
thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead  :  and  he  died  for 
all,  that  they  who  live,  should  not  henceforth  live  to  themselves,  but  to 
him  who  died  for  them  and  rose  again."     (2  Cor.  v.  14,  15.) 

Another  question  occurs ;  Can  they  be  Christians  who  refuse  access 
to  themselves,  by  those  who  propose  free  conversation  on  this  import- 
ant point,  to  bring  the  matter  to  a  fair  trial,  for  edification,  or  with  that 
professed  and  apparent  reason  ?  Let  the  words  of  Peter  be  considered 
in  this  place ;  "  But  sanctify  the  Lord  God  in  your  hearts ;  and  be 
ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason 
of  the  hope  that  is  in  you  with  meekness  and  fear  ;  having  a  good  con- 
science ;  that  whereas  they  speak  evil  of  you  as  of  evil-doers,  they  may 
be  ashamed  that  falsely  accuse  your  good  conversation  in  Christ.  (1 
Pet.  iii.  15,  16.)  When  a  man  can  evade  a  free  conversation  on  the 
ground-work  of  the  Gospel — faith,  hope  and  charity,  with  the  corre- 
spondent works — by  saying  that  he  is  willing  to  let  every  one  take  the 
way  which  he  thinks  is  best,  he  exhibits  to  me  the  strongest  evidence, 
that  he  is  conscious  to  himself  of  not  having  a  good  conscience,  of  not 
sanctifying  the  Lord  God  in  his  heart,  and  that  he  has  not  become  wil- 
ling to  part  with  all  things  for  Christ,  but  hugs  in  his  bosom  a  beloved 
idol,  which  he  is  afraid  the  truth  would  discover  and  wrest  from  him, 
and  is  also  jealous  or  apprised  that  he  who  proposes  the  conversation  is 
possessed  of  that  truth  of  God,  which  can  strip  him,  would  he  come 
fairly  to  trial :  for  he  who  has  parted  with  all  can  lose  no  more ;  but 
he  who  has  kept  a  reserve  may  be  in  danger.  Honesty  and  truth  are 
not  afraid  of  the  light,  or  of  examination,  but  dishonesty  and  wickedness 
love  the  dark.  "  For  every  one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light,  nei- 
ther cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved.  [Gr.  con- 
victed.] But  he  that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  deeds 
may  be  made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God." 

Som.e  may  plead  that  it  is  of  little  consequence  to  bring  a  man's  re- 
ligion to  trial  before  other  men,  for  the  judgment  of  man  is  an  uncer- 
tain matter  at  best.  True  enough  ;  the  judgment  of  man  is  an  uncer- 
tain matter.  But  when  a  man  is  not  able  to  support  his  religion  in  the 
judgment  of  men  who  soberly  appeal  to  revelation,  it  is  poor  religion 
indeed.  And  when  a  man  cannot  maintain  the  safety  of  the  foundation 
on  which  he  is  building,  by  good  and  rational  evidence,  in  the  judgment 
of  men  who  soberly  appeal  to  revelation  it  is  a  poor  foundation.  But 
the  truth  is,  that  the  people  of  God  have  the  discernment,  or  judgment 
of  God  in  them,  and  hypocrites  and  those  who  are  not  in  possession  of 
the  truth  of  God,  can  feel  it  in  them,  (and  can  also  feel  the  light  in 
some  who  have  a  good  degree  of  light  from  God,  and  yet  have  not  ex- 
perienced the  work  and  travail  of  regeneration,)  a  light  and  a  judgment 
able  to  comprehend  them.  "  For  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  [or  dis- 
cerneth]  all  things,  yet  he  himself  is  judged  [or  discerned]  of  no  man." 

The  unlimited  hounds  ascribed  to  charity,  by  some,  is  another 
source  of  excuse  on  this  subject.  It  is  not  enough  to  let  every  one 
choose  his  own  way,  but  it  must  be  hoped  in  charity  that  all  are  right, 
or  at  least  some  amongst  all,  so  that  it  is  no  matter  what  people's 


ON  FREEDOM  OF  CONVERSATION.  415 

sentiments  are,  provided  they  only  practise  what  they  think  is  right. 
Thus  the  noble  man-made  charity  becomes  a  covert  for  errors  in 
faith  and  practice  ;  and  what  is  more,  demands  of  God  the  approba- 
tion of  every  man's  ways,  various  as  they  may  be,  provided  they  can 
find  acceptance  in  his  own  mind,  whether  according  to  the  will  of  God 
or  not  5  and  thus  subjects  God  and  his  worship  to  every  man's  judg- 
ment :  for  except  God  approve  there  can  be  no  justification  or  salva- 
tion. It  is  esteemed  quite  an  uncharitable  thing  to  suppose  that  any 
denomination  of  professors  have  not  the  true  faith  of  Christ  and  power  of 
salvation  ;  or  that  their  tenets  are  such  that  if  put  into  practice,  (and 
they  are  useless  without  practice,  for  faith  without  works  is  dead,) 
they  will  exclude  them  from  a  participation  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
or  fail  of  connecting  them  with  the  followers  of  the  Lamb.  But  it  is 
not  uncharitable  nor  unchristian  to  believe  the  truth.  Charity  be- 
lieveth  all  things ;  but  it  is  not  required  to  believe  things  which  have 
no  existence,  or  to  believe  a  lie.  Charity  does  not  require  me  to  be- 
lieve a  man  is  right  when  he  is  doing  wrong  ;  neither  to  believe  he  has 
the  faith  of  Christ,  or  that  faith,  in  the  possession  and  exercise  of 
which  he  can  be  saved,  unless  his  fruits  are  in  all  things  according  to 
Christ.  For  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,  and  a  good  tree 
cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit.  Charity  does  not  require  me  to  believe 
that  any  man  or  people  have  the  faith  of  Christ,  who  openly  acknow- 
ledge and  avow  that  faith  which  admits  the  possibility  of  sin,  the  work 
of  the  flesh,  or  any  thing  contrary  to  the  order  and  life  of  Christ,  in  a 
Christian.  If  all  denominations  produce  the  genuine  fruits  of  Chris- 
tianity— if  all  keep  that  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace, 
which  belongs  to  that  one  body  of  Christ,  having  one  faith  and  one 
Spirit — if  all  have  that  inimitable  love  and  union  which  no  hypocrite 
can  counterfeit,  and  by  which  all  men  shall  know  that  they  are  the 
disciples  of  Christ,  and  the  world  shall  believe  and  know  that  the  Fa- 
ther has  sent  him,  and  has  loved  them  as  he  has  loved  him,  or  by 
which  the  truth  of  Christianity  is  established  and  confirmed — if  all 
have  that  faith  which  influences  them  to  walk  even  as  he  walked,  who 
left  us  an  example  that  we  should  follow  his  steps,  then  all  are  right ; 
but  all  who  fall  short  in  these  things  are  wrong,  and  must,  while  in 
their  present  standing,  come  short  of  salvation.  I  presume  the  Scrip- 
tures to  which  these  things  relate  are  too  familiar  to  you  to  require 
a  particular  citation.  But  if  all  are  right,  or  if  any  are  right,  having 
the  faith  of  Christ  and  power  of  salvation,  (for  without  these  none 
can  be  right,)  I  see  no  reason  why  those  who  are  right  should  not  ex- 
hibit the  righteousness  of  their  faith  and  practice  on  all  proper  occa- 
sions, with  freedom  and  humility,  or  why  they  are  not  in  the  number 
of  those  whose  hearts  condemn  them,  who  can  cover  their  light  under 
a  bushel,  and  avoid  the  scrutiny  of  the  light  under  such  subterfuges 
as  have  been  common.  I  do  not  mean  that  Christians  ought  to  voci- 
ferate like  public  criers  ;  humility  and  modesty  become  them.  I  only 
plead  for  that  openness  of  heart,  which  will  prove  that  their  souls  are 
not  in  bondage ;  and  that  they  are  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  or  the  views  and  practice  which  they  maintain,  while  in  them 
it  proves  itself  to  be  the  power  of  God  to  salvation. 

With  some  it  would  appear,  that  an  efiectual  hindrance  to  freedom 
of  communication,  is  the  fear  of  giving  offence,  especially  where  there 


416  ON  FREEDOM  OF  CONVERSATION. 

are  different  sentiments  on  some  leading  points.  I  am  not  pleading 
for  any  improper  or  ill-placed  communications.  We  are  not  required 
to  cast  pearls  before  swine.  Where  the  Gospel  is  not  acceptable, 
and  there  appears  no  prospect  or  place  for  any  benefit,  officious  urg- 
ing would  be  imprudent.  But  I  see  no  need  of  these  difficulties  among 
Christians,  or  professors,  who  aim  to  be  honest.  If  they  possess  the 
faith  of  the  common  salvation,  why  not  unbosom  one  to  another,  at 
least  so  far,  that  their  unity  of  faith  and  spirit  might  appear.  "  Then 
■  they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to  another  ;  and  the  Lord 
hearkened  and  heard  it ;  and  a  book  of  remembrance  was  written  be- 
fore him  for  them  that  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  thought  upon  his 
name.  And  they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in  that  day 
when  I  make  up  my  jewels  ;  and  I  will  spare  them  as  a  man  spareth 
his  own  son  that  serveth  him."  (Mai.  iii.  16,  17.)  It  is  not  justifia- 
ble to  omit  duty,  or  cover  the  truth,  with  fear  of  ofi"ending.  There 
is  indeed  no  impropriety  in  addressing  mankind  in  the  most  inviting 
and  inoiFensive  terms  which  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit  in  hon- 
esty. The  haughty  spirit  of  man  is  apt  enough  to  rebel ;  and  the 
Gospel  is  offensive  enough  to  him  without  adding  to  it  any  thing  dis- 
gusting. But  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  must  not  be  corrupted  by  those 
who  publish  and  possess  it.  Although  Paul  availed  himself  of  every 
justifiable  method  to  escape  censure  and  persecution,  being  wise  as  a 
serpent  and  harmless  as  a  dove,  he  could  not  preach  to  please  his 
brethren,  the  Jews,  although  by  that  he  might  have  escaped  all  per- 
secution for  Christ.  But  thus  he  must  have  fallen  from  grace,  and 
have  been  separated  from  Christ.  He  therefore  adhered  to  the  Gos- 
pel by  the  cross.  "  And  I,  brethren,  if  I  yet  preach  circumcision, 
why  do  I  yet  suffer  persecution  ?  then  is  the  offence  of  the  cross 
ceased."  "  But  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  to  me  and  I  to 
the  world."  (Gal.  v.  11,  and  vi.  14.)  Could  Paul  have  discharged 
the  duty  of  his  calling,  and  have  preached  salvation  by  circumcision 
and  other  Jewish  rituals,  leaving  out  the  cross  of  Christ,  there  had 
been  no  offence.  For  those  outward  signs  were  they  to  which  cir- 
cumcision related  ;  because  he  did  preach  circumcision  ;  not  the  out- 
ward sign  in  the  flesh,  but  that  which  is  made  without  hands,  in  put- 
tino-  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  circumcision  of  Christ ; 
that  which  is  of  the  heart,  in  the  Spirit,  not  in  the  letter ;  whose  praise 
is  not  of  men  but  of  God.  (Col.  ii.  11  ;  Rom.  ii.  29.)  This  circum- 
cision of  the  heart  and  in  the  spirit  was  the  great  stumbling-stone, 
against  which  ail  the  persecution  was  raised.  Just  so  ;  could  believers 
in  this  day  fulfill  the  duties  of  their  calling,  and  omit  the  cross  ;  or 
could  they  be  justified  in  preaching  salvation  by  outward  forms  and 
ceremonies,  without  the  necessity  of  walking  in  the  footsteps  of  Christ 
and  bearing  his  cross  ;  such  a  Gospel  (though  indeed  no  Gospel  at 
all)  would  be  welcomed  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  professors 
not  excepted.  But  the  cross  of  Christ  has  always  been  offensive  to 
the  world,  and  always  will,  while  such  a  world  is  in  being. 

But  may  I  not  add,  that  some  are  prevented  from  using  that  free- 
dom with  others  of  different  sentiments,  and  conversing  freely  as  they 
might  otherwise  do,  especially  with  those  who  are  counted  great  de- 
ceivers, lest  their  fellow-professors  should  be  offended.     And  the 


ON  FREEDOM  OF  CONVERSATION.  417 

charity  of  some  is  so  exquisitely  favourable,  that  it  will  not  allow  them 
to  offend  others,  if  by  this  tenderness  they  should  neglect  a  duty  to 
God  and  their  own  souls.  And  they  can  avail  themselves  of  the  im- 
propriety of  offending  a  brother,  or  one  of  Christ's  little  ones,  and 
the  sin  and  woe  of  those  who  cause  offences  to  come  :  not  consider- 
ing that  those  offences  which  the  Scriptures  condemn,  were  commit- 
ted against  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  not  against  the  selfish  feelings  of 
partisans.  But  I  am  thankful  that  all  are  not  so  weak  and  ignorant. 
It  needs  no  proof  that  those  waj-nings  against  offences  are  no  impedi- 
ment in  the  way  of  honest  people  examining  into  the  grounds  of  their 
faith  and  practice,  and  obtaining  every  degree  of  light  and  help  in 
their  reach,  but  that  they  who  are  opposed  to  such  freedom,  are 
offenders  in  the  true  meaning.  "  Prove  all  things  and  hold  fast  that 
which  is  good."  (1  Thes.  v.  21.)  The  word  of  God  is  not  bound  ; 
and  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.  The  people  of 
God  have  not  received  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear  ;  but  the 
Spirit  of  adoption  whereby  they  cry  Abba,  Father.  They  are  Christ's 
free-men,  and  are  under  no  restraint  from  acquiring  all  that  knowledge 
which  is  necessary  to  fill  the  soul  with  good  things  to  their  own  satis- 
faction. 

But  I  must  use  the  freedom  to  mention  another  avowed  reason  with 
many,  for  their  refusing  to  converse  freely  and  openly  on  the  founda- 
tion of  their  hope,  especially  with  those  who  believe  that  Christ  has 
made  his  second  appearance,  and  are  by  many  esteemed  the  greatest 
deceivers — the  danger  of  being  deceived.  They  are,  or  affect  to  be, 
much  afraid  of  deception.  Yet  of  those  whose  ostensible  reason  is 
fear,  many  will  say  they  are  not  afraid  on  their  own  account,  but  on 
the  account  of  others  who  are  weak.  Thus  will  carnal  professors  en- 
deavour to  exculpate  themselves  from  all  unsoundness  or  weakness  in 
their  own  standing,  while  they  stand  as  sentinels  to  keep  the  truth  of 
God  from  their  house  and  neighbourhood.  The  danger  also  of  giving 
heed  to  seducing  spirits,  has  been  alleged ;  as  if  to  inquire  soundly 
into  the  foundation  of  a  man's  faith,  were  the  same  thing  as  to  submit 
to  the  dictates  of  manifest  seduction. 

Other  particulars  might  be  mentioned,  (and  perhaps  some  may  in 
the  sequel,)  as  causes  of  fear,  real  or  pretended,  all  which  to  an  hon- 
est man,  appear  at  the  first  view  to  be  mere  bugbears,  while  the  true 
source  of  fear  is  an  inward  conviction  that  all  is  not  right  towards 
God,  and  that  the  truth  requires  them  to  give  up  more  for  Christ  than 
they  are  willing  to  lose.  It  is  no  part  of  Christianity  to  be  afraid  of 
being  deceived  ;  for  Christians  know  who  are  of  the  truth  and  who  are 
not,  by  the  spirit  which  they  possess  and  the  doctrines  which  they 
bring.  "  We  are  of  God  :  he  that  knoweth  God  heareth  us  ;  he  that 
is  not  of  God  heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know  we  the  Spirit  of  truth 
and  the  spirit  of  error."  (l  Jno.  iv.  6.)  Proper  as  it  is,  and  justi- 
fiable, to  avoid  closing  in  with  error,  or  countenancing  it ;  that  faith, 
or  foundation,  which  can  be  shaken  by  error,  is  not  the  faith  of  Christ, 
or  the  foundation  which  God  has  laid  in  Zion  ;  and  little  matter  how 
soon  it  be  dissolved.  The  promise  of  God  is  faithful  and  good ; 
"  Surely  there  is  no  enchantment  against  Jacob,  neither  is  there  any 
divination  against  Israel."  (Numb,  xxiii.  23.)  Honest  souls  have  no 
cause  of  fear  ;  deception  belongs  to  those  who  choose  it ;  neither  need 
28 


418  ON  FREEDOM  OF  CONVERSATION. 

any  people,  or  any  man,  exhibit  a  better  proof  of  living  in  deception 
and  hypocrisy  than  fear  of  being  deceived.  Christianity  includes  too 
much  light  for  those  who  possess  it,  or  even  know  where  it  is,  to  be 
afraid  of  being  deceived  against  their  own  choice.  "  I  am,"  said 
Jesus,  "  the  light  of  the  world  ;  he  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk 
in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life."  (Jno.  viii.  12.)  And 
again  he  said  to  his  disciples  :  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  A  city 
that  is  set  on  an  hill  cannot  be  hid."  (Matt.  v.  14.) 

After  all  the  incoherent  notions  and  various  persuasions  in  the  pro- 
fession of  Christianity,  and  all  the  uncertainty  with  which  people  have 
suffered  the  most  exquisite  distress,  and  all  the  reproaches  with  which 
the  name  of  Christ  has  been  blasphemed,  by  the  ungodly  and  unmor- 
tified  lives  of  professors,  until  it  is  true  of  them,  as  of  the  Jews  of  old, 
that  the  name  of  God  through  them  is  blasphemed  among  the  Gentiles  ; 
and  all  the  support  which  has  been  ministered  to  infidelity,  by  the 
inconsistent,  jarring  and  irregular  course  of  those  who  have  named  the 
name  of  Christ,  and  have  not  departed  from  iniquity  ;  the  foundation 
of  God  stands  sure,  and  his  Church  must  eventually  emerge  from 
those  clouds  of  superstition  and  error,  which  have  so  long  obstructed 
and  prevented  his  goings  forth  as  the  morning,  with  that  distinguished 
light  and  evidence  which  cannot  admit  of  deception.  And  it  is  fuUj^ 
time  that  such  a  work  should  be  seen  on  the  earth,  the  true  Church 
of  God,  and  that  the  people  should  begin  to  flow  together  into  it,  that 
the  honest  sufferers  may  find  relief,  and  the  weary  of  sin  may  be  at  rest 
in  Christ.  Accordingly  the  day  has  dawned,  the  testimony  has 
gone  forth,  and  the  Sun  of  righteousness  has  arisen  with  healing  in  his 
wings. 

About  the  time  when  that  society  to  which  you  are  still  attached 
began  to  be  distinguished  from  the  common  mass  of  professors,  out 
of  which  it  sprung,  I  felt  more  confirmed  that  I  was  doing  the  will  of 
God,  and  under  the  direction  of  his  special  providence,  than  I  had 
ever  been  before.  Neither  do  I  at  all  scruple  at  this  day,  to  acknow- 
ledge the  special  hand  of  God,  in  selecting  that  society  from  among 
others,  in  conjunction  with  whom  its  members  could  not  have  enjoyed 
the  free  exercise  of  that  light  and  power,  which  they  had  received  in 
that  mighty  work  of  God,  called  the  Kentucky  Revival.  And  I  always 
feel  willing  to  acknowledge  the  good  hand  of  God  in  the  various  min- 
istrations of  clear  light,  which  were  received  from  him  during  the  work 
of  that  day.  And  though  I  now  stand  where  I  do  ;  I  say  the  truth  in 
Christ,  I  lie  not,  my  conscience  also  bearing  me  witness  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  when  I  attest  that  I  have  no  less  esteem  for  the  work  of  that 
day,  than  I  had  then  ;  although,  to  the  best  of  my  remembrance,  I 
then  esteemed  it  as  by  far  the  greatest  which  I  had  ever  witnessed. 
I  may  add  farther,  that  I  now  esteem  it  inexpressibly  more  than  1  did 
then,  as  being  much  better  acquainted  with  its  tendency.  "  Better 
is  the  end  of  a  thing  than  the  beginning  thereof."  (Eccl.  vii.  8.)  I 
can  also  bear  witness,  that  my  regard  for  the  subjects  of  that  revival, 
who  have  honestly  retained  the  life  and  spirit  of  it  to  the  best  of  their 
understanding,  is  by  no  means  abated.  And  even  those  who  have 
ceded  their  power  and  privilege  to  the  spirit  of  fear  and  unbelief,  or 
to  the  corrupt  influence  of  prejudicial  gainsaying,  are  not  out  of  the 
reach  of  my  good-will,  nor  the  embraces  of  my  desires  and  longings 


ON  FREEDOM  OP  CONVERSATION.  419 

for  their  recovery.  Of  wliom,  if  accessible,  I  am  ever  willing,  and 
would,  count  it  my  joy,  to  travail  in  birth  again  until  Christ  be  formed 
in  them. 

It  was  not  from  any  unkind  feelings  towards  that  revival,  or  its  sub- 
jects, that  I  stand  where  I  do,  or  that  I  have  not  had  an  uninterrupted 
intercourse  with  you  all  to  this  day.  I  had  no  intention,  God  is  my 
witness,  of  withdrawing  my  friendship  from  them,  until  they,  to  the 
pain  of  my  heart,  refused  me  access.  I  remained  in  the  exercise  of 
all  the  freedom  which  I  could  obtain  among  them,  until  constrained 
by  the  call  of  God,  by  the  clear  testimony  of  the  truth  of  God  in  my 
own  conscience,  that  a  deeper  work  than  could  be  had  there,  was  ne- 
cessary to  my  salvation,  and  by  the  all-prevailing  love  to  truth,  to  step 
forward  in  the  increasing  manifestation  of  the  light  and  knowledge  of 
God,  and  leave  my  former  brethren,  who  were  not  far  from  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  to  give  over  their  pursuit,  and  making  vigorous  ef- 
forts to  retain  and  content  themselves  with  what  they  had.  Nay, 
more  ;  many  of  them  have  receded  from  that,  and  taken  refuge  under 
the  rudiments  of  the  world,  those  beggarly  elements  in  which  thej- 
desire  again  to  be  in  bondage. 

Neither  was  it  anything  in  the  testimony  of  the  Gospel  which  I  re- 
ceived, and  wherein  I  stand,  which  was  so  agreeable  to  my  nature  as 
to  invite  me  in.  Every  man  who  has  but  a  little  understanding  of 
the  self-denial  and  cross  which  we  bear  after  Christ,  has  an  invinci- 
ble testimony  in  himself  to  the  contrary — that  the  Gospel  is  not  in- 
viting to  man's  nature,  but  to  the  spirit  that  feels  the  need  of  salva- 
tion. And  the  clear  testimony  of  God  corresponded  with  my  under- 
standing and  faith,  and  with  the  light  of  God  which  I  had  received 
in  the  late  revival,  so  that  I  must  now  of  necessity,  by  the  call  of  God, 
make  my  choice  to  go  forward  into  the  opening  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  or  renounce  what  I  had  received.  I  therefore  began  to  deny 
myself,  to  take  up  my  cross  and  follow  Christ  in  the  regeneration  ; 
and  have  thenceforth  been  learning  by  a  solid  experience,  that  it  is 
better  to  obey  God  than  man.  The  same  testimony  agrees  also  to 
the  understanding  and  light  of  every  man  and  every  woman,  who  were 
real  subjects,  and  had  a  real  understanding  of  the  work  of  the  revi- 
val :  of  the  truth  of  which  there  are  many  witnesses  who  do  not  obey 
the  Gospel. 

*■  Some  years  ago,  the  piercing  cries  of  many  were,  What  shall  we  do 
to  be  saved?  And  nothing  then  would  satisfy  short  of  that  substance 
which  could  not  be  shaken  nor  disputed.  But  when  the  safe  and  only 
way  appeared  by  the  cross,  they  stumbled  at  it,  being  disobedient ; 
and  many  of  those  who  were  piercing  the  heavens  with  their  cries 
have  settled  back  into  the  rudiments  of  the  world.  While  it  remains 
true,  that  the  cross  which  we  bear,  and  at  which  they  stumble,  and 
the  self-denial  which  we  practise,  who  are  called  by  the  everlasting 
Gospel,  are  sanctioned  by  the  example  of  Christ,  with  such  certainty 
that  no  man  can  with  any  plausibility  deny  it.  The  current  argu- 
ment is,  that  such  a  cross  is  not  required  of  the  followers  of  Christ ; 
that  is,  that  Christ  does  not  require  his  people  to  take  him  as  an  ex- 
ample in  ceasing  from  the  first  Adam's  works  in  the  radical  distinction 
of  their  several  orders.     This  kind  of  reasoning,  in  those  who  expect 


420  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

to  be  justified  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  them,  is  quite 
consistent  with  the  rest  of  their  views.  But  for  those  who  have  re- 
jected the  doctrine  of  vicarious  sufferings  and  obedience,  or  imputed 
righteousness,  to  argue  in  that  manner  is  not  so  consistent. 


SECTION     II. 

FREE  AND  FRIENDLY  OBSERVATIONS    ON  THE   SENTIMENTS  AND  PRAC- 
TICE  OF  THE  SUPERSCRIBED,  AND  THE  SUBJECTS   OF  THE  REVIVAL. 

Barton  : — Whereas  in  your  Address  you  have  expressed  a  warm 
disapprobation  of  the  insinuation  that  your  doctrines  lead  to  Shaker- 
ism,  to  be  consistent  you  will  heartily  consent  that  Shakers  should 
object  to  your  views.  And  whereas  you  so  earnestly  plead  for  free- 
dom among  Christians,  or  professors,  and  insist  on  the  propriety  of 
scriptural  and  rational  arguments,  you  cannot  with  propriety  feel  any 
chagrin,  if  I  should  examine  your  writings,  and  state  my  objections 
in  a  few  particulars.  And  as  the  first  Letters  on  Atonement,  the 
Reply  to  Campbell,  and  your  late  Address,  are  mainly  on  the  same 
subjects,  I  shall  consider  them  as  containing  your  full  faith  on  those 
points,  and  as  showing  the  substance  of  the  difference  between  the 
society  with  which  you  are  connected  and  professors  in  common.  I 
intend  not  to  be  at  the  pains  to  make  remarks  on  every  particular, 
but  only  to  attend  to  some  leading  points. 

These  doctrines  have  thoroughly  undermined  the  doctrine  of  imput- 
ed righteousness  and  surety  payment.  At  the  same  time  you  must 
allow  me  the  liberty  to  remark  ;  That  they  have  not  removed  all  dif- 
ficulties, nor  carried  the  matter  clearly  through  to  full  satisfaction, 
although  they  have  effectually  refuted  the  doctrine  itself.  Some  talk 
of  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed,  and  some,  of  the  same  right- 
eousness applied,  or  imparted,  to  believers,  for  their  justification. 
But  as  there  is  no  account  nor  authority  for  such  doctrines  in  the 
revelation  of  God  to  men,  you  have  justly  rejected  the  whole  plan. 
But  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  object  there  is  something  lacking, 
which  is  of  no  small  consequence. 

You  appear  to  have  left  the  people  without  any  clear  ground  of 
justification.  Having  taken  away  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed 
and  received  by  faith,  and  yet  left  the  righteousness  of  God  to  be  re- 
ceived by  faith,  you  have  laid  open  no  safe  and  unequivocal  ground 
on  which  for  the  believer  to  make  use  of  Christ.  "  But  how  do  we 
get  this  righteousness  .''  By  faith.  Hence  it  is  called,  the  righteous- 
ness of  faith  ;  the  righteousness  which  is  by  or  through  faith." 
(Atonement,  p.  13.)  Now  the  Calvinist,  who  maintains  the  doctrine 
of  vicarious  sufferings  and  obedience,  and  imputed  righteousness,  will 
not  hesitate  to  acknowledge,  that  the  righteousness  of  God  is  received 
by  faith.     The  same  will  be  granted  by  those  who  teach  that  justifi- 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  421 

cation  is  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  applied  or  imparted.  In  a 
word  ;  faith  is  acknowledged  by  all  professed  Christians,  with  whom 
I  have  been  acquainted,  as  the  sine  qua  non  of  the 'Christian  religion, 
without  which  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  So  that  the  Letters 
thus  far  afford  no  definitive  information  on  which  the  mind  can  rest. 
If  I  believe  in  Christ  and  receive  his  righteousness,  or  the  righteousness 
of  God  in  him,  one  calls  this  receiving,  imputation  ;  another,  to  avoid 
that  term  and  its  offensive  consequences,  calls  it,  application  or  im- 
partation;  and  what  shall  I  call  it .?  To  avoid  the  terms  and  conse- 
quences of  them  both,  as  I  intend  it,  I  say.  By  or  through  faith,  and 
leave  them  to  apply  their  peculiar  terms :  but  the  subject  matter  is 
the  same  without  farther  explanation. 

But  the  Letters  have  carried  the  subject  some  farther.  "  How  do 
we  get  the  righteousness  of  God  by  or  through  faith  }  Because  by 
faith  we  are  ingrafted  into,  or  in  Christ ;  and  by  this  union  with  him 
we  become  partakers  of  his  nature,  which  is  righteousness  or  holiness. 
Therefore  we  are  justified,  made  just  and  declared  just  or  righteous 
by  faith,  without  the  deeds  of  the  law."  (Ibid.)  And  again;  "  How 
is  he  made  unto  us  righteousness  ?  By  making  us  righteous  ;  for,  as 
I  have  already  shown,  the  branch  ingrafted  partakes  of  the  nature  of 
the  vine  ;  so  they,  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  are  partakers  of  his  divine 
nature,  which  is  righteousness.  This  is  called  "  the  righteousness  of 
God — the  righteousness  of  faith — the  righteousness  which  is  of  God 
by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ."  (p.  9.)  According  to  these  statements 
then,  justification  is  the  fruit  of  holiness  or  righteousness;  "that  is 
[we  are]  made  just  and  righteous,  even  as  he  is  righteous,  and  then 
declared  so  of  God  because  we  are  so."  (p.  17.)  This  effect  you 
have  every  where  attributed  to  faith  alone,  or  without  carrying  the 
matter  any  farther.  But  we  may  remember,  that  in  all  which  the 
Apostle  has  said  of  justification  by  faith  and  without  the  deeds  of  the 
law,  he  has  never  said  by  faith  alone,  nor  ever  excluded  obedience  to 
God  according  to  the  Gospel,  but  ever  enjoined  it.  "  For  in  Jesus 
Christ  neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision  : 
but  faith  which  worketh  by  love."  And  again :  "  Circumcision  is 
nothing,  and  uncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  the  keeping  of  the  com- 
mandments of  God."  Now  Christians,  though  free  from  the  Mosaic 
or  ceremonial  law,  are  "  not  without  law  to  God  but  under  the  law  to 
Christ."  (1  Cor.  ix.  21.)  Obedience  therefore  is  the  end  of  faith, 
the  point  to  which  it  leads  the  man  for  justification  and  final  salva- 
tion ;  "  According  to  the  revelation  of  the  mystery,  which  was  kept 
secret  since  the  world  began,  but  now  is  made  manifest,  and  by  the 
Scriptures  of  the  prophets,  according  to  the  commandment  of  the 
everlasting  God,  made  known  to  all  nations  for  the  obedience  of 
faith." 

And  the  apostle  John  proposes  a  very  different  method  for  a  man 
to  be  righteous  and  so  called,  from  that  by  faith  and  there  stopping — 
that  of  doing  righteousness  ;  "  He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  right- 
eous." Yet  none  were  more  swallowed  up  in  faith  than  John.  And 
this  is  quite  consistent  with  what  you  have  stated  in  your  Letters,  (p. 
9.)  "  Therefore  he  is  the  end  of  the  law,  and  answers  it  complete- 
ly to  all  believers  ;  for  "  the  righteousness  of  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  us 
[not  for  us]  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit."     Thus 


422  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

these  Letters  lead  to  the  very  brink  of  tlie  river  of  life,  but,  as  if 
alarmed  at  its  depth,  would  not  come  in  ;  a  river  of  waters  which  no 
man  can  pass,  waters  to  swim  in.  You  were  then  not  far  from  the 
kingdom. 

But  is  it  not  remarkable  if  at  that  day,  when  you  stood  in  the  blazing 
light  of  the  revival,  the  apostolic  light  revived,  you  never  conceived 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  our  example,  whom  we  are  to  follow  in  all  things; 
seeing  he  so  expressly  taught,  saying,  "  If  any  man  will  come  after 
me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me." 

People  talk  of  following  Christ,  and  if  they  are  admonished  that 
certain  things  which  they  practise  are  not  after  Christ,  they  imme- 
diately appeal  to  the  law  given  to  Adam,  or  to  Moses,  or  to  some 
other  before  Christ  appeared,  as  if  these  laws  or  commandments  were 
the  rule  of  the  life  of  Christians.  But  let  us  remember,  that  Jesus 
never  taught  the  people  to  follow  Adam,  or  Moses,  or  David,  or  Solo- 
mon, or  any  other  who  had  been  before  him.  So  far  from  it  that  he 
said:  "  All  that  ever  came  before  me  are  thieves  and  robbers."  (Jno. 
X.  8.)  It  is  commonly  insisted  that  he  meant  false  christs,  or  those 
who  presumed  to  be  the  true  Christ.  But  this  is  mere  supposition  ; 
for  we  read  of  no  false  christs  until  the  true  Christ  appeared.  Men 
may  mimic  the  works  of  God  in  some  part,  after  they  have  appeared, 
but  the  counterfeit  implies  the  pre-existence  of  the  true.  But  all  who 
ever  came  before  him  fell  short  of  the  mark,  the  doing  of  the  will  of 
God  in  all  things  ;  so  that  when  he  came  he  stood  alone,  and  of  the 
people  there  was  none  with  him.  Until  he  taught  it,  no  man  ever 
knew  that  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  take  up  his  cross  and  deny  him- 
self, or  that  he  must  lose  his  life  to  save  it :  therefore  says  he.  Follow 
me.  And  as  none  before  him  knew  the  perfect  way,  the  effect  was 
accordingly ;  for  says  he,  on  another  occasion  :  "  And  no  man  hath 
ascended  to  heaven  but  he  that  came  down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son 
of  man  who  is  in  heaven."  (Jno.  iii.  13.)  It  is  here  alleged  that  he 
meant  no  man  in  the  flesh.  But  that  is  mere  evasion,  for  a  spiritual 
man  is  a  man,  as  well  as  a  man  in  the  flesh :  besides  he  made  no  such 
reserve — He  is  the  way. 

Now  when  people  profess  to  be  Christians,  or  followers  of  Christ, 
and  use  no  more  self-denial,  and  bear  no  cross  beyond  what  was  con- 
tained in  the  law  of  Moses,  or  in  any  law  before  Christ,  they  necessa- 
rily impose  this  as  their  belief,  that  Christ  has  done  no  more,  by  either 
example  or  precept,  towards  the  extirpation  of  sin,  than  Moses,  and 
that  to  follow  Christ  is  no  more  than  to  follow  Moses,  nor  indeed  half 
so  much,  for  he  is  the  end  of  that  expensive  and  burdensome  yoke. 
So  that  all  he  seems  to  have  done  against  the  nature  of  sin,  on  that 
plan,  is  to  have  taken  off  those  burdensome  restraints  from  the  flesh, 
and  left  it  full  indulgence  in  its  own  circle. 

But  if  the  righteousness  of  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  us  who  walk  not 
after  the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit,  it  must  be  fulfilled  by  us,  as  those 
who  take  him  for  our  example.  For  believers  are  not  without  law 
to  God,  but  under  the  law  to  Christ.  And  thus  the  Scripture  is  ful- 
filled :  "  He  that  saith  he  abideth  in  him,  ought  himself  also  so  to 
walk  even  as  he  walked."  (1  Jno.  ii.  6.)  If,  then  believers  ought  so 
to  walk,  those  who  do  not,  trangress  the  law  of  Christ,  and  are  no 
more  in  him.     Thus,  if  we  pursue  the   doctrine  of  Christ  and  his 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  423 

apostles,  we  shall  find,  that  while  he  disannulled  the  outward  rituals 
of  the  law,  which  were  only  a  shadow  of  things  to  come,  and  which 
were  a  yoke  too  grievous  to  be  borne,  he  brought  in  the  substance, 
and  imposed  a  more  grievous  burden  and  death  on  the  flesh,  than  it 
had  ever  felt  before.  No  less  than  the  death  and  destruction  of  the 
flesh,  that  the  Spirit  might  be  saved.  "  And  [accordingly}  they  that 
are  Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh  with  the  affections  and  lusts." 
(Gal.  V.  24.) 

The  flesh  had  many  indulgences  in  the  law,  which  it  cannot  have 
in  Christ  ;  many  things  were  lawful  which  are  not  Christian.  This 
shows  that  the  law,  or  faith  of  Christ,  makes  the  way  much  narrower 
and  straiter  than  the  law  of  Moses.  Thus  it  was  lawful  to  swear, 
but  not  Christian  ;  the  words  of  Christ  forbid  it.  It  was  lawful  to  re- 
sist evil,  but  not  Christian.  (Matt.  v.  38,  &c.)  It  was  not  lawful  to 
commit  adultery,  or  to  covet  another  man's  wife  ;  yet  it  was  lawful 
for  a  man  to  look  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  even  though  she  was 
of  a  strange  nation,  taken  captive,  and  it  was  tolerable  though  the 
man  had  another  wife  before.  But  these  things  are  all  contrary  to  the 
faith  or  law  of  Christ  ;  they  are  not  Christian.  (Deut.  xxi.  10-17  ; 
Matt.  V.  27,  28.)  These  are  a  few  particulars  selected  from  many 
more,  which  I  omit  to  avoid  prolixity,  which  show  that  the  law  of 
Moses,  though  the  greatest  dispensation  before  Christ  or  his  imme- 
diate forerunner,  John,  fell  far  short  of  that  strait  and  narrow  way, 
which  Christ  taught  in  his  example  as  well  as  in  word :  for  he  left  us 
an  example  that  we  should  follow  his  steps.  Although  many  Jews 
might  have  lost  their  natural  lives  in  defence  of  their  law  and  reli- 
gion, it  was  never  known  to  them  that  whosoever  would  seek  to  save 
his  life  should  lose  it,  and  whosoever  should  lose  his  life  for  Christ's 
sake  and  the  Gospel's  should  preserve  it.  The  great  work  of  dying 
with  Christ  could  not  possibly  be  known,  until  he  appeared  and  set 
the  example. 

By  the  law  was  the  knowledge  of  sin  to  a  certain  length,  and  that 
far  it  was  condemned ;  but  in  the  root  of  sin,  the  flesh,  which  lusteth 
against  the  Spirit,  and  is  contrary  to  it,  and  to  which  is  justly  ascribed 
the  production  of  all  sins,  it  never  was  condemned  by  any  law,  first 
or  last,  until  Christ  came.  This  is  expressly  that  which  the  law  could 
not  do  ;  and  which  remained  for  God  to  do  in  the  mission  of  his  own 
Son.  "  For  God,  sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh, 
and  on  account  of  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh  ;  that  which  the 
law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh ;  that  the 
righteousness  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after 
the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit." 

It  is  commonly  argued,  that  to  live  in  the  generation,  with  a  law- 
fully married  wife,  is  not  to  live  after  the  flesh,  and  therefore,  that  to 
condemn  the  flesh,  or  sin  in  the  flesh,  it  is  not  necessary  to  fix  con- 
demnation on  that  work  or  those  propensities  which  lead  that  way. 
But  let  me  ask,  what  other  work  or  nature  in  the  flesh  could  it  be, 
which  the  law  could  not  condemn  ?  For  if  the  law  admitted  to  lust 
after  a  woman,  it  was  only  as  preparatory  to  taking  her  to  wife  ;  and 
it  was  not  possible  for  a  man  to  forsake  his  father  and  mother  and 
cleave  to  his  wife,  without  it,  in  that  day,  neither  is  it  in  this.  So 
that  if  the  work  of  natural  generation,  lawfully  or  unlawfully,  be  con- 


424  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

sistent  with,  the  faith  of  Christ,  he  has  done  nothing  on  that  score 
more  than  the  law  could  do  and  actually  did.  And  should  it  be  ar- 
gued that  the  law  admitted  polygamy,  but  the  faith  of  Christ  con- 
demns it  ;  there  appears  no  reason  why  the  law  could  not  hare  con- 
demned that  also,  unless  the  same  for  which  it  could  not  condemn  sin 
in  the  flesh  in  a  single  marriage.  For  polygamy  was  not  the  spirit 
of  the  law,  it  was  only  suffered  so  to  be  5  but  from  the  beginning  it 
was  not  so.  "  And  did  not  he  make  one  }  yet  had  he  the  residue  of 
the  Spirit.  And  wherefore  one  .?  That  he  might  seek  a  godly  seed." 
(Mai.  ii.  15.)  But  Christ  did  that  which  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that 
it  was  weak  through  the  flesh.  And  why  was  it  weak  through  the 
flesh  .?  Because  there  was  nothing  in  it  but  what  was  consistent  with 
the  life  of  the  flesh.  It  had  not  a  single  precept  to  crucify  the  flesh  ; 
but  it  justified  it ;  consisting  only  in  meats  and  drinks  and  divers 
washings  and  carnal  ordinances  or  justifications  of  the  flesh.  (See 
Address,  p.  29.)  The  law,  therefore,  justifying  the  flesh  could  have 
no  power  to  condemn  it ;  or  sin  in  it ;  for  while  the  flesh  was  pro- 
tected, the  sin  in  it  would  find  an  harbour.  But  Christ  did  that  which  the 
law  could  not  do,  or  the  impossibility  of  the  law  [to  d^uvocrov  <rou  vof^ou]  : 
he  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh.  And  how  did  he  condemn  it  .?  He 
gave  it  no  patronage,  no  license,  neither  married  nor  participated  in 
marriage  or  its  works  :  he  lived  in  the  flesh  a  life  of  perfect  virgin 
purity,  not  stained  with  its  lusts.  And  why  did  he  condemn  it .?  That 
the  righteousness  of  the  law,  which  it  could  not  fulfill  in  the  Mosaic 
dispensation,  might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  as  he  did,  not  after  the 
flesh  but  after  the  Spirit — a  life  in  the  flesh,  unstained  by  its  lusts. 
"  For  whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  [desire]  her,  hath 
committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart."  And  now  let  me 
ask  again  ;  in  what  other  word  or  way  could  not  the  law  have  con- 
demned sin  in  the  flesh  } 

Observe  ;  The  righteousness  of  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  those  who  walk 
after,  or  according  to  the  Spirit,  but  not  in  those  who  walk  after,  or 
according  to  the  flesh.  Now  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  that  Spirit. 
(2  Cor.  iii.  17.)  For  "  The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  living  soul ; 
[a  rational  animal ;]  the  last  Adam  a  quickening  Spirit.  The  first 
man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy  ;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven  : 
as  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy  ;  and  as  is  the 
heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly."  Those  therefore 
who  walk  in  the  ways,  or  do  the  works  of  the  first  Adam,  or  which 
are  peculiar  to  him  and  his  order,  walk  after  the  flesh.  F"or  this  is 
the  order  of  the  first  Adam  :  "  A  man  shall  leave  his  father  and  his 
mother,  and  be  joined  to  his  wife,  and  they  shall  be  one  flesh  ; 
therefore,"  said  Jesus,  "  they  are  no  more  twain  but  one  flesh." 
But  those  who  walk  in  the  ways  of  Christ,  walk  after  the  Spirit,  and 
leave  the  order  of  the  first  Adam  ;  for  the  law,  or  order  of  Christ  is. 
That  except  a  man  forsake  all  that  he  hath,  and  hate  his  father  and 
his  mother,  and  his  wife  and  his  children,  and  his  brethren  and  his 
sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  or  the  flesh  and  all  its  relations,  he 
cannot  be  his  disciple.  So  again  :  "  He  that  is  joined  to  an  harlot  is 
one  body  :  for  two  (_says  he)  shall  be  one  flesh."  This  therefore  is 
according  to  the  order  of  the  first  Adam,  and  they  are  as  certainly 
one  as  the  man  and  his  wife.     But  according  to  the  second  Adam, 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  425 

there  is  no  one  flesh  in  the  case,  "  But  he  that  is  joined  to  the  Lord 
is  one  Spirit." 

On  the  whole,  it  is  evident  that  Christ  has  left  us  an  example,  and 
requires  us  to  follow  him  in  preference  to  all,  and  separately  from  all 
who  walk  in  a  different  order.  It  may  with  propriety  be  asked :  If 
we  by  faith  receive  the  righteousness  of  God,  or  divine  nature,  ac- 
cording to  your  writings,  what  does  it  avail  us,  or  rather.  What  evi- 
dence can  we  have  that  we  have  received  it,  unless  we  live  as  he  lived 
and  walk  even  as  he  walked  }  "  For  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God,''''  and  none  else.  But  it  remains  in- 
vincibly true,  that  as  many  as  do  the  works  of  the  first  Adam,  are  led 
by  his  spirit,  and  therefore  serve  the  flesh. 

An  unhappy  cause  will  produce  an  unhappy  effect.  With  all  the 
superior  discoveries  of  truth,  during  the  Kentucky  Revival,  which 
indeed  were  not  inconsiderable,  and  concentrated  for  a  time  mainly 
among  the  people  of  that  society  to  which  you  are  attached,  I  must 
use  the  freedom  to  remark,  that  they  have  made  shipwreck  of  faith 
and  a  good  conscience  on  the  same  rock  with  others  :  that  of  under- 
taking to  serve  two  masters,  Christ  and  Adam,  or  the  Spirit  and  the 
flesh.  Hence  it  is,  that  the  work  of  salvation  cannot  be  completed, 
nor  advanced  beyond  certain  limits.  Neither  can  the  people  retain 
what  they  gain  ;  for  as  new  wine  put  into  old  bottles  will  burst  the 
bottles,  and  the  wine  will  run  out,  so  the  power  and  gift  of  God  are- 
wasted,  being  consumed  on  their  lusts.  "  For  the  flesh  lusteth  against 
the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh  ;  and  these  are  contrary 
the  one  to  the  other ;  so  that  ye  cannot  do  the  things  that  ye  would." 
(Gal.  v.  17.) 

It  is  a  plausible  argument  with  some,  that  Jesus  Christ  did  not  for- 
bid to  marry.  But  however  plausible,  it  shows  great  weakness  in  the 
faith  of  Chi-ist,  and  ignorance  of  his  Spirit.  The  Spirit  of  the  Gos- 
pel is  not  ministered  by  commandments  and  prohibitions  only,  but  by 
evidence,  faith  and  choice,  telling  what  is  the  way  and  leaving  the 
people  to  make  their  choice,  after  hearing  the  consequences  on  each 
side.  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and 
take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me.  For  whosoever  will  save  his  life 
shall  lose  it ;  and  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake,  shall  find 
it."  (Matt.  xvi.  24,  25.)  Jesus  never,  that  we  know  of,  forbade  the 
people  to  circumcise  ;  but  his  apostles  taught  that  it  was  one  side  of 
the  faith  of  Christ.  "  Behold,  I  Paul  say  unto  you,  that  if  ye  be  cir- 
cumcised Christ  shall  profit  you  nothing."  (Gal.  v.  2.)  So  neither 
did  Jesus  ever,  that  we  know  of,  expressly  forbid  to  marry  ;  but  he 
taught  that  marriage  belonged  to  another  order  than  his,  that  is,  to 
the  world  ;  but  of  his  disciples  he  said  expressly,  that  they  are  no 
more  of  the  world  than  he  :  "  They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I 
am  not  of  the  world."  (Jno.  xvii.  16.)  The  disciples  of  Christ  there- 
fore do  not  marry,  because  they  are  not  of  the  world  but  of  Christ. 
"  The  children  of  this  world  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage  ;  but 
they  who  shall  be  [Greek,  are]  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world, 
and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead^  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in 
marriage."  If  therefore  God's  children  are  accounted  worthy  to  ob- 
tain that  world  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  it  is  conclusively 
proved,  that  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage.     And 


426  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

they  are  no  losers  by  it.  Paul  has  shown  what  is  the  good  way, 
that  "  it  is  good  for  a  man  not  to  touch  a  woman."  (1  Cor.  vii.  1.) 
And,  notwithstanding  all  the  permissions  or  forbearances,  which  he 
exercised  t(»ward  those  carnal  people,'  who  were  not  able  to  bear 
sound  and  naked  truth,  (iii.  2,  3,)  because  they  were  yet  carnal  and 
walked  as  men,  and  also  had  the  grossest  of  fornication  among  them, 
(v.  1,)  he  maintains  this  proposition,  as  that  to  which  he  would  have 
all  men  come  :  "  For  I  would  that  all  men  were  even  as  I  myself," 
(vii.  7,)  and  as  most  conformable  to  the  Lord.  "  And  this  1  speak 
(35)  for  your  own  profit ;  not  that  I  may  cast  a  snare  upon  you,  but 
for  that  which  is  comely,  [suitable  to  the  Christian  profession,]  and 
happily  corresponding  with  the  Lord,  without  violence  :"  the  com- 
mon reading,  "  That  ye  may  attend  upon  the  Lord  without  distrac- 
tion," being  a  forced  translation  and  unnatural.  But  he  maintains  his 
proposition  ;  for  when  he  has  considered  the  case  through,  he  says  : 
"  So  then,  he  that  giveth  in  marriage  doeth  well ;  but  he  that  giveth 
not  in  marriage  doeth  better."  "  But  she  [the  widow]  is  happier  if 
she  so  abide,  after  my  judgment :  and  I  think  also  that  I  have  the 
Spirit  of  God."  Thus  he  neither  commands  nor  forbids,  but  shows 
what  is  the  best  way,  and  leaves  them  to  make  their  own  choice  ac- 
cording to  their  own  faith,  for  the  time  being. 

Some  acknowledge  that  the  best  way  is  not  to  marry ;  that  such 
have  the  advantage  over  the  married,  in  living  a  life  of  devotion  to 
God  in  the  Spirit,  and  yet  persist  in  the  married  life  ;  by  which  they 
prove  to  all  men,  that  they  esteem  the  flesh  more  than  the  Spirit — the 
pleasures  of  sense  more  than  Christ.  For  no  matter  what  the  advan- 
tages of  the  unmarried  life  are,  whether  convenience  or  holiness,  or 
both,  the  benefit  is  to  the  spirit ;  those  therefore  who  forego  that  be- 
nefit for  the  married  life,  are  practically  of  those  who  love  pleasures 
more  than  God,  and  are  unworthy  of  Christ.     But  once  more  : 

The  introduction  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  was  undeniably  a  new  dis- 
pensation, on  different  principles  from  any  before,  and  more  into  the 
Spirit.  Nothing  therefore  can  claim  any  place  or  part  in. this  because 
of  its  having  a  place  in  the  former  :  the  express  authority  of  revela- 
tion is  necessary  for  the  introduction  of  every  thing.  Consequently, 
instead  of  demanding  proof  that  Christ  excluded  the  fleshly  rite  of 
mafriage,  or  the  work  of  natural  generation,  from  any  place  in  the 
Christian  Church,  it  belongs  to  those  who  believe  that  manner  of  life 
to  comport  with  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Christ,  or  the  life  of  a  spi- 
ritual man  in  Christ,  who  has  crucified  the  flesh  with  its  affections  and 
lusts,  to  furnish  proof  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  that  he  has  intro- 
duced marriage,  which  is  a  civil  right  of  the  world,  into  his  kingdom, 
which  is  not  of  the  world.  The  demand  for  proof  is  on  the  other  side  ; 
especially  considering  his  own  example  set  for  all  Christians,  and  the 
many  things  spoken  to  the  contrary  of  Christians  marrying. 

But  it  is  not  my  intention  to  dwell  largely  on  this  subject  in  this 
place.  Those  who  are  led  more  forcibly,  by  the  determination  of  their 
own  will  and  their  own  inclinations,  than  by  the  will  of  God,  will  not 
likely  be  easy  to  satisfy  with  arguments  that  they  are  wrong ;  while  on 
the  other  hand,  those  who  seek  to  serve  God  more  than  to  please  the 
flesh,  or  who  practically  esteem  salvation  above  all  other  things,  are 
easily  convicted.     Every  honest  and  reflecting  man  will  acknowledge, 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  427 

that  his  strongest  inducements  to  many,  have  ever  been  his  propen- 
sities. In  this  therefore  he  does  his  own  will  more  than  the  will  of 
God  ;  consequently,  in  that  matter  at  least,  is  contrary  to  Christ,  who 
came  down  from  heaven  not  to  do  his  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  who 
sent  him. 

But  on  this  ground  have  all  the  churches  stumbled,  to  whom  the 
mystery  of  iniquity  has  not  been  revealed  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God, 
or  the  abomination  of  desolation  standing  where  it  ought  not.  The 
fleshly  work  of  generation  is  kept  among  those  who  profess  to  be  of 
the  regeneration.  And  with  them  the  work  of  salvation  can  never  rise 
beyond  a  certain  limit;  it  cannot  be  completed,  neither  can  it  conti- 
nue whereunto  it  has  often  attained.  Neither  will  it  ever  be  better 
with  any  other  people,  until  they  receive  and  obey  the  faith  of  Christ 
in  the  second  appearing,  consuming  the  man  of  sin  with  the  Spirit  of 
his  mouth,  and  destroying  him  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming. 
How  comes  it  to  pass  that  revivals  cease  so  soon,  among  those  too 
who  make  the  most  vigorous  efforts  to  promote  and  continue  them  ? 
Is  God  unwilling  to  save  souls .''  Or  is  the  death,  the  bane  of  godli- 
ness in  the  people,  an  idol,  a  lust  which  they  have  no  feelings  to  re- 
nounce }  People  may  plead  their  own  disobedience  and  backwardness 
in  other  respects  as  the  cause  of  the  declensions  of  revivals.  If  the 
cause  lies  any  where  else,  would  to  God  ye  would  agree,  who  are  friend- 
ly to  Christ,  and  remove  it  out  of  the  way,  that  the  Gospel  might  have 
free  course  and  be  glorified.  But  ye  will  object  that  ye  cannot  come 
to  this  agreement.  What .''  not  two  or  three  in  all  the  land  to  agree 
in  so  important  a  matter  ?  Then  it  is  time  to  cease  talking  of  being 
Christians,  and  to  acknowledge  ye  are  not  built  on  the  true  foundation 
stone ;  for  they  who  are,  agree  in  all  such  matters,  having  one  faith 
and  one  spirit,  and  the  work  of  salvation  increases  all  the  time,  and  all 
who  are  willing  to  have  salvation  by  the  way  of  the  cross  find  it.  But 
I  proceed  to  a  somewhat  different  subject. 

For  the  want  of  taking  the  proper  grounds  of  justification,  the  obe- 
dience of  faith,  and  Christ  whom  to  believe  and  obey  as  an  example 
as  well  as  a  teacher  in  all  things  not  excepting  the  rejection  of  the 
flesh,  or  natural  generation,  from  the  life  of  a  Christian,  you  are  una- 
ble to  come  out  clearly  in  the  apostolic  language  and  confidence  : 
"  We  are  of  God  :  he  that  knoweth  God  heareth  us  ;  he  that  is  not  of 
God  heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know  we  the  Spirit  of  truth  and  the  spi- 
rit of  error."  "  And  we  know  that  we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole 
world  lieth  in  wickedness ;"  or  in  the  wicked  one  ;  [iv  toj  ifovripui ;] 
that  is,  in  the  devil.  But  this  you  can  never  do,  neither  the  people 
in  your  faith,  nor  in  any  other,  until  they  receive  and  obey  the  faith 
of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  for  reasons  which  you  will  find  in 
the  sequel. 

The  testimony  is  gone  out,  that  Christ  has  made,  and  is  now  mak- 
ing to  those  who  look  for  him,  his  second  appearing  without  sin  to  sal- 
vation. This  you  know  is  the  faith,  and  consequently  the  testimony, 
of  the  people  with  whom  I  stand  connected.  And  we  are  always 
willing  to  have  the  matter  thoroughly  investigated  ;  and  if,  on  a  fair 
trial,  we  cannot  offer  better  evidence  for  our  faith  than  any  other  peo- 
ple for  theirs,  we  are  willing  to  fall  to  the  ground  with  the  rest.     For, 


428  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

Connected  with  tlie  foregoing  is  this  :  That  all  those  churches  which 
have  not  received  and  obeyed  the  faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appear- 
ing, are  essentially  wanting  in  respect  to  that  Gospel  which  is  the 
power  of  God  to  salvation.  And  it  is  fair  reasoning,  that  a  former 
dispensation  cannot  have  the  light  and  power  of  the  succeeding  one. 
Thus  the  Jews  with  all  their  prophets  and  their  writings,  could  not 
attain  to  the  knowledge  of  salvation,  or  that  light  and  power  which 
was  in  the  Christian  dispensation,  nor  even  to  the  light  of  the  short 
intermediate  dispensation  of  John  the  Baptist,  until  it  was  opened  in 
its  own  day.  It  is  conclusively  true,  tfiat  after  the  introduction  and 
promulgation  of  a  new  dispensation,  no  people  who  have  the  know- 
ledge of  it,  can  retain  that  degree  of  light  and  power,  or  that  measure 
of  the  work  of  salvation  which  they  had,  if  any,  unless  they  unite  with 
the  new  and  increasino:  work.  Accordincflv,  the  Jews  could  no  longer 
keep  their  justification  by  the  observation  of  their  law,  after  Christ 
had  made  known  his  mission,  even  though  they  did  not  believe  in  him, 
nor  know  who  he  was.  For  if  they  had  known  him,  or  the  wisdom  of 
God,  they  would  not  have  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory.  (1.  Cor.  ii.  8.) 
"  And  now,  brethren,"  said  Peter,  "  I  wot  that  through  ignorance  ye 
did  it,  as  did  also  your  rulers."  (Acts  iii.  17.)  "  But  aU  these  things," 
said  Jesus,  "will  they  do  unto  you  for  my  name's  sake,  because 
they  know  not  him  that  sent  me.  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  to 
them  they  had  not  had  sin ;  but  now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin. 
He  that  hateth  me,  hateth  my  Father  also.  If  I  had  not  done  among 
them  the  works  which  none  other  man  did,  they  had  not  had  sin  ;  but 
now  they  have  both  seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Father."  "  And 
this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men 
loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were  evU." 

Accordingly,  we  have  uniformly  found,  that  wherever  the  testimony 
which  we  have  received  is  made  known,  those  who  reject  it  are  not 
able  to  retain  that  measure  of  the  work  of  salvation  which  they  had, 
where  they  had  any,  although  in  many  cases  they  did  not  really  be- 
lieve that  it  was  in  truth  the  testimony  of  God.  But  people  may 
reject  the  Gospel  to  their  condemnation,  when  their  faith  is  not  un- 
wavering. Many  see  so  far  into  the  Gospel,  as  to  discover  the  sure 
means  of  death  to  their  nature  and  their  carnal  delights,  by  the  cross 
of  Christ,  and  evade  farther  conviction,  if  possible,  and  often  by  the 
most  disingenuous  subterfuges,  refusing  to  give  testimony  its  proper 
weight.  "  The  publicans  and  the  harlots,"  said  Jesus,  "  go  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  before  you.  For  John  came  to  you  in  the  way  of 
righteousness,  and  ye  believed  him  not ;  but  the  publicans  and  the 
harlots  believed  him  ;  and  ye,  when  ye  had  seen  it,  repented  not  af- 
terward that  ye  might  believe."  (Matt.  xxi.  31,  32.)  Many  acknow- 
ledge that  the  testimony  is  rational  and  fair  ;  but  they  cannot  feel 
reconciled  to  the  death  of  the  old  man  which  it  contains,  and  so 
stumble  at  the  cross,  being  disobedient.  Thus  after  the  cure  of  the 
lame  man  by  Peter  and  John,  the  Jews  evaded  conviction  by  a  very 
unwarrantable  method,  "  saying.  What  shall  we  do  to  these  men  ?  for 
that  indeed  a  notable  miracle  hath  been  done  by  them  is  manifest  to 
all  them  that  dwell  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  we  cannot  deny  it.  But  that 
it  spread  no  farther  among  the  people,  let  us  straitly  threaten  them 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  429 

that  they  speak  hencefortli  to  no  man  in  this  name.  And  they  called 
them,  and  commanded  them  not  to  speak  at  all,  nor  teach  in  the  name 
of  Jesus."  (Actsiv.  16-18.) 

But  to  open  this  subject  more  fully  :  It  is  acknowledged  that  Jesus 
and  his  apostles  foretold  an  apostacy  in  the  Church  ;  that  false  christs 
and  false  prophets  should  arise  ;  or,  that  Antichrist  should  come. 
When  the  testimony  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing  was  opened  in 
this  country,  by  its  first  witnesses  to  us,  the  cry  was  raised,  that  these 
are  the  deceivers,  that  these  are  the  Antichrist  who  was  to  come. 
But  without  taking  the  time,  in  this  place,  to  delineate  the  character 
of  Antichrist  in  full,  and  show  the  contrast,  a  few  observations  will 
be  sufficient  to  show  the  fallacy  of  such  clamours. 

In  the  first  place,  Antichrist  was  to  deny  the  true  Christ,  or  to  deny 
that  he  had  come  fn  the  flssh.  (1  Jno.  ii.  22.)  "  Who  is  a  liar,  but 
he  that  denieth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ .?  He  is  Antichrist  that  denieth 
the  Father  and  the  Son."  And  (iv.  2,  3),  "  Hereby  know  ye  the 
Spirit  of  God  ;  every  spirit  that  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in 
the  flesh  is  of  God ;  and  every  spirit  that  confesseth  not  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  not  of  God  ;  and  this  is  that  spirit  of 
Antichrist  whereof  ye  have  heard  that  it  should  come."  But  these 
people  do  not  deny  that  Jesus  Christ  has  come  in  the  flesh  ;  so  far 
from  it,  that  this  was  then,  and  remains  to  be,  the  very  ground  of  op- 
position ;  because  Christ  having  come  in  the  flesh,  first  or  last,  makes 
it  necessary  that  the  flesh,  or  body,  be  devoted  as  a  sacred  temple  to 
his  use  in  all  who  name  his  name,  and  that  the  affections  and  desires 
of  the  flesh  should  be  denied  and  crucified.  This  presented  the  cross. 
And  short  of  such  a  testimony  and  such  a  cross,  no  spirit  or  people 
can  have  any  claim  to  their  being  of  God,  or  being  those  people  who 
confess  that  Jesus  Christ  has  come  in  the  flesh.  "  What  ?  know  ye 
not  that  your  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you, 
which  ye  have  of  God,  and  ye  are  not  your  own }  for  ye  are  bought 
with  a  price  :  therefore  glorify  God  in  your  body  and  in  your  spirit 
which  are  God's."  "  I  beseech  you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mer- 
cies of  God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service.  And  be  not  con- 
formed to  this  world."  (Rom.  xii.  1,2.)  "  And  if  Christ  be  in  you, 
the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin  ;  but  the  spirit  is  life  because  of  right- 
eousness. But  if  the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead 
dwell  in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall  also  quick- 
en your  mortal  bodies  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you.  Therefore, 
brethren,  we  are  debtors,  not  to  the  flesh,  to  live  after  the  flesh.  For 
if  ye  live  after  the  flesh  ye  shall  die  ;  but  if  ye  through  the  Spirit  do 
mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body  ye  shall  live.  For  as  many  as  are  led 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God."  "  And  they  that 
are  Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh,  with  its  affections  and  lusts." 
And  much  more  to  the  same  purpose.  It  is  manifest  that  the  verbal 
acknowledgment  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  of  his  having  come  in  the  flesh,  is 
not  proportionate  to  the  Apostle's  design ;  for  multitudes  do  that,  and 
the  subjects  and  ministers  of  Antichrist  as  freely  as  any,  who  fall  into 
the  rank  of  those,  "  Who  profess  that  they  know  God,  but  in  works 
deny  him,  being  abominable  and  disobedient,  and  to  every  good  work 
reprobate."  (Tit.  i.  16.)     Again: 


430  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

Anticlirist  was  to  be  held  in  great  admiration  and  esteem  \j  all  the 
world.  "  And  all  the  world  wondered  after  the  beast.  And  they 
worshipped  the  beast,  saying,  Who  is  like  unto  the  beast }  who  is 
able  to  make  war  with  him .''  And  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  shall 
worship  him,  whose  names  are  not  written  in  the  book  of  life  of  the 
Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world."  (Rev.  xiii.  3,  4,  8.) 
But  the  testimony  of  Christ's  second  appearing  and  the  witnesses  of 
it,  are  rejected  with  the  most  cordial  and  universal  disapprobation 
of  any  thing  ever  known  on  earth  by  the  name  of  Christianity,  ex- 
cept the  first  ministration  of  the  same  Holy  Spirit.  The  character  of 
Antichrist,  therefore,  will  not  apply  to  the  present  testimony.  Far- 
ther: 

The  spirit  of  Antichrist,  or  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition,  which 
is  confessedly  the  same,  is  described  as  one  "  Who  opposeth  and  ex- 
alteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped ;  so 
that  he,  as  God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that 
he  is  God."  (2  Thes.  ii.  4.)  But  the  people  of  whom  I  speak,  ac- 
knowledge and  practise  the  worship  of  one  God,  who  is  the  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  deficiency  which  they  discover  in  all 
others  is,  that  they  fall  short  of  the  true  and  perfect  worship  of  the  one 
true  God,  in  the  faith  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  But  say  some,  That 
is  a  true  mark  ;  ye  prove  yourselves  to  be  Antichrist,  and  that  ye  pre- 
sume to  be  God,  by  saying  that  none  else  are  right,  for  ye  exalt  your- 
selves above  all.  But  the  apostle  John  did  not  reason  so  when  he 
said  :  "  We  know  that  we  are  of  God  and  the  whole  world  lieth  in 
vrickedness,  or  in  the  wicked  one."  And  again  :  "  We  are  of  God  : 
he  that  knoweth  God  heareth  us  ;  he  that  is  not  of  God  heareth  not 
us.  Hereby  know  we  the  Spirit  of  truth  and  the  spirit  of  error." 
It  is  preposterous  reasoning  indeed,  that  I  must  call  myself  God,  be- 
cause I  maintain  that  I  have  found  the  only  perfect  way  to  the  Fa- 
ther. By  parity  of  reason,  all  who  profess  to  have  found  the  only 
way  to  the  Father,  which  is  Christ,  (and  there  is  but  one,)  thereby 
presume  to  be  God. 

But  the  witnesses  of  the  testimony  of  which  I  speak,  do  not  sit  in 
the  temple  of  God,  according  to  the  understanding  of  the  people  in 
common,  the  people  themselves  being  judges ;  for  they  are  not  ac- 
knowledged by  the  denominations  as  being  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
at  all.  And  if  the  testimony  which  they  bear,  or  the  spirit  which  is 
in  them,  be  the  spirit  of  Antichrist,  these  witnesses  and  people  are 
the  only  temple  or  Church  of  God,  remaining  on  earth.  Thus  the 
above  objection  destroys  itself  by  its  absurdity.     Once  more  : 

The  time  of  Antichrist's  appearing  was  in  the  apostles'  days  and 
the  time  immediately  succeeding.  "  For  the  mystery  of  iniquity," 
says  Paul,  "  doth  already  work."  (2  Thes.  ii.  7.)  And  John  has  an- 
nounced that  "  even  now  already  is  it  in  the  world."  And  again  : 
"  Little  children,  it  is  the  last  time  :  and  as  ye  have  heard  that  Anti- 
christ shall  come,  even  now  are  there  many  Antichrists  ;  whereby  we 
know  that  it  is  the  last  time."  (1  Jno.  iv.  3,  and  ii.  18.)  But  the 
present  testimony  had  its  rise  more  than  twelve  hundred  and  sixty 
years  afterwards,  at  the  time  when  the  reign  of  Antichrist  began  to 
be  diminished  and  destroyed.  The  period  of  his  reign  was  twelve 
hundred  and  sixty ;    accordingly  the  sentiment  is  extensively  em- 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  431 

braced,  and  that  for  many  years  back,  and  with  good  reason  too,  ac- 
cording to  the  prophecies,  that  the  seventh  angel  has  begun  to  sound 
his  trumpet,  and  consequently,  that  the  dominion  of  the  beast  has 
begun  to  decline.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  the  charge  of  Antichrist 
and  apostacy  against  the  people  who  testify  that  Christ  has  made  his 
second  appearance  is  groundless  and  unjust. 

But  to  discuss  this  subject  profitably,  one  thing  more  is  worthy  to 
be  noticed;  which  is  to  inquire  into  the  extent  and  degree  of  the 
apostacy  under  Antichrist — whether  it  was  total  or  partial.  This  is 
an  important  question,  attended  with  the  most  momentous  conse- 
quences. For  professors  in  common,  believing  the  apostacy  only  par- 
tial, and  that  Christ  has  always  had  a  true  church  on  earth,  indued 
with  the  power  of  salvation  ;  (for  without  that  it  is  not  the  Church  of 
Christ ;  as  it  is  written  ;  "  I  will  place  salvation  in  Zion  for  Israel  my 
glory ;"  and  again  :  "  It  shall  come  to  pass  that  whosoever  shall  call 
on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall.be  delivered;  for  in  Mount  Zion  and 
in  Jerusalem  shall  be  deliverance,  as  the  Lord  hath  said,  and  in  the 
remnant  whom  the  Lord  shall  call."  And  where  the  true  Church  is, 
which  is  the  ground  and  pillar  of  the  truth,  there  is  the  true  Gospel 
which  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  ;)  I  say,  people  believing  the 
apostacy  to  have  been  only  partial,  have  hitherto  applied  all  their  wis- 
dom and  strength  to  build  on  the  old  dispensation ;  whereas  if  the 
apostacy  was  total,  and  the  corruption  and  spirit  of  Antichrist  univer- 
sal, so  that  there  was  a  time  when  there  was  not  a  church  on  earth,  in 
the  order  of  Christ,  and  possessing  the  power  of  salvation,  their  la- 
bours will  prove  to  be  abortive,  until  Christ  the  true  foundation  be 
again  revealed  from  heaven,  and  they  come  to  the  knowledge  of  it, 
and  build  on  him  in  that  last  revelation.  For  it  is  evident  that  that 
which  God  only  can  give,  or  make  known,  if  once  lost  can  never  be 
recovered  again,  unless  by  another  revelation  of  God,  or  a  manifesta- 
tion of  the  same  power  and  gift  of  revelation.  A  man  can  receive 
nothing  of  that  kind  except  it  be  given  him  from  heaven.  And  to 
build  on  that  which  is  lost,  or  which  has  passed  away,  must,  to  the  un- 
derstanding of  all  men,  be  insufficient. 

The  belief  of  the  people  with  whom  I  stand  connected  is,  that  the 
apostacy  was  total  and  universal ;  insomuch  that  in  that  period,  al- 
though many  honestly  sought  the  way,  whom  God  noticed  according- 
ly, and  kept  in  reserve  until  the  opening  of  full  redemption,  yet  there 
was  no  true  Church  or  body  of  Christ  in  order,  and  possessing  the 
power  of  salvation;  the  true  way  of  God  being  unknown  for  a  time. 
This  being  admitted,  the  necessary  consequence  is,  that  all  churches 
not  built  on  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  or  revelation,  are  either 
in  the  full  government  of  Antichrist,  or,  to  say  the  best,  under  the 
influence  of  some  degree  of  preparatory  work,  leading  them  out  by 
degrees,  that  they  may  be  in  readiness  for  salvation  when  the  way  is 
opened  to  them.  Let  us  now  inquire  a  little  into  the  evidence  of 
this  faith. 

The  very  description  of  Antichrist,  or  the  man  of  sin,  as  sitting  in 
the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God,  and  of  his  there 
continuing  until  the  Lord  shall  consume  him  with  the  Spirit  of  his 
mouth  and  destroy  him  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming,  argues 
strongly,  or  rather  conclusively,  in  defence  of  what  is  stated  on  this 


432  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

subject.  For,  in  the  first  place  :  While  the  man  of  sin  was  there 
Christ  had  no  place,  unless  he  should  divide  the  government  with  the 
beast.  But  this  could  not  be  :  "  For  what  fellowship  hath  righteous- 
ness with  unrighteousness  ?  and  what  communion  hath  light  with  dark- 
ness ?  And  what  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial  >  or  what  part  hath 
he  that  believeth  with  an  infidel .?  or  what  agreement  hath  the  temple 
of  God  with  idols  ?  for  ye  are  the  temple  of  the  living  God  ;  as  God 
hath  said,  I  will  dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them  ;  and  I  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people.  Wherefore  come  out  from  among 
them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean 
thing ;  and  I  will  receive  you,  and  will  be  a  Father  to  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty."  (2  Cor. 
vi.  14-18.)  These  then  are  the  conditions  on  which  God  will  accept 
a  people — to  come  out  from  them  that  do  evil — to  be  separated  to 
God — to  touch  no  unclean  thing  :  and  these  things  are  inconsistent 
with  Antichrist's  having  any  place  in  them. 

This  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God  was  also  universal ;  for  had  there 
been  any  part  on  earth  where  Christ  had  abode,  and  consequently 
Antichrist  had  been  excluded,  that  would  have  been  the  temple,  and 
the  man  of  sin  would  not  have  sat  in  the  temple  and  there  exalted 
himself  above  all ;  for  he  would  have  felt,  and  the  people  would  have 
felt  it,  that  one  in  the  temple  had  power  over  him-— Devils  know  the 
Holy  One  of  God,  who  he  is.  Besides,  that  part  where  Antichrist 
reigned  would  have  been  the  world  in  distinction  from  the  temple. 
For  the  world  worshipped  the  beast ;  and  in  this  case  the  temple  is 
included,  because  when  the  Church  had  lost  the  power  of  salvation, 
or  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  the  man  of  sin  reigned,  the  power  of  the  holy 
people  was  scattered,  and  the  truth  trodden  to  the  earth,  and  all  were 
the  world  together  in  the  governing  principle.  Besides;  His  sitting 
there  until  the  coming  of  the  Lord  proves,  that  after  he  fairly  had  got 
possession,  there  could  be  no  more  a  true  church,  in  the  order  and 
power  of  Christ,  until  his  second  appearing.  And  this  agrees  with 
that  saying  of  Christ :  "  Nevertheless  when  the  Son  of  man  cometh 
shall  he  find  faith  on  the  earth .?"  A  question  proposed  not  to  receive 
an  answer,  as  all  may  see,  but  to  show  the  extent  and  depth  of  the 
apostacy,  and  fix  truth  on  the  mind  with  more  weight  than  could  be 
done  by  simple  assertion,  as  well  as  to  leave  the  subject  under  that 
prophetic  vail  which  was  often  expedient. 

Jesus  also  describes  the  apostacy  in  such  language  as  plainly  to 
show,  that  all  were  totally  corrupted,  and  none  knew  the  true  Christ. 
"  Then  if  any  man  shall  say  unto  you,  Lo,  here  is  Christ,  or  there  ; 
believe  it  not.  For  there  shall  arise  false  christs,  and  false  prophets, 
and  shall  show  great  signs  and  wonders  ;  insomuch  that  if  possible, 
they  shall  deceive  the  very  elect."  (Matt.  xxiv.  23,  24.)  This  was 
the  time  of  Antichrist ;  and  it  is  evident  that  none  really  knew  the 
true  Christ ;  for  had  not  that  been  the  case,  Jesus  could  not  have  told 
them  not  to  believe  or  follow  any  of  them ;  for  they  who  know  the 
true  Christ  are  of  the  truth,  and  are  therefore  to  be  believed  and  fol- 
lowed;  as  said  Paul,  Be  ye  followers  of  me.  But  no  one  knowing 
him,  they  said,  in  the  rage  of  their  ignorance  and  uncertainty,  io, 
here,  and  /o,  there;  he  is  in  the  desert,  and  he  is  in  the  secret  chamber. 
And  so  do  the  false  prophets  to  this  day,  in  their  ignorance  and  uncer- 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  433 

tainty  about  the  safe  path  ;  sending  the  people  who  come  to  inquire 
of  them,  (expecting  them  to  be  ministers  of  Christ,)  what  they  shall 
do  to  be  save*,  to  seek  him  in  secret,  instead  of  ministering  Christ  to 
them.  Those  were  the  days  of  which  Jesus  said  expressly,  "  Ye  shall 
desire  to  see  one  of  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man  and  ye  shall  not  see 
it ;"  (Luke  xvii.  22;)  and  without  a  day  of  the  Son  of  man  there  could 
be  no  true  Church  or  Gospel. 

But,  said  Jesus,  "  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles, 
until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled."  (Luke  xxi.  24.)  This 
could  not  have  related  merely  to  the  Jerusalem  of  the  Jews;  but  must 
have  related  mainly  to  the  spiritual  Jerusalem,  or  Church,  of  which 
the  first  was  a  figure  :  for  immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those 
days  the  Son  of  man  is  seen,  and  Christians  are  called  upon  to  lift  up 
their  heads  expecting  speedy  redemption.  "  And  then  shall  they  see 
the  Son  of  man  coming  in  a  cloud  with  power  and  great  glory.  And 
when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look  up,  and  lift  up  your 
heads;  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh."  (ver.  27,  28.)  But  the 
time  of  the  redemption  of  Christians  is  in  his  second  appearing.  "  And 
if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you 
to  myself;  that  where  I  am  there  ye  may  be  also."  "  And  to  them 
that  look  for  him  shall  he  appear  the  second  time  without  sin  to  sal- 
vation." 

Parallel  with  this  prophecy  is  that  in  the  Apocalypse,  (xi.  1,  &e.,) 
"  And  the  angel  stood  saying.  Rise,  and  measure  the  temple  of  God, 
and  the  altar,  and  them  that  worship  therein,  but  the  court  which  is 
without  the  temple  leave  out,  and  measure  it  not ;  for  it  is  given  to  the 
Gentiles  ;  and  the  holy  city  shall  be  trodden  under  foot  forty  and  two 
months.  And  I  will  give  power  to  my  two  witnesses,  and  they  shall 
prophesy  a  thousand  two  hundred  and  threescore  days,  clothed  in 
sackcloth.  These  are  the  two  olive  trees,  and  the  two  candlesticks, 
standing  before  the  God  of  all  the  earth."  It  has  been  argued  that 
only  the  outer  court  was  given  to  the  Gentiles.  But  what  ^en  ?  The 
holy  city  was  trodden  under  foot  without  exception.  And,  to  follow 
the  metaphor,  it  is  manifest,  that  while  the  Gentiles  had  the  outer 
court  in  full  possession,  [for  it  was  given  to  them,]  there  was  no 
access  to  the  inner.  Those  who  were  safe  in  might  stay,  but  could 
take  in  no  more.  They  who  had  received  and  kept  the  true  faith 
were  preserved  from  the  corruption  which  crept  in,  and  kept  by  the 
power  of  God  through  faith  to  the  final  salvation,  ready  to  be  revealed 
in  the  last  time,  or  second  appearing  of  Christ ;  but  none  more  could 
attain  to  that  same  faith  until  it  was  again  revealed.  Accordingly, 
the  temple  of  God  was  no  more  opened  in  heaven,  until  after  the 
sounding  of  the  seventh  angel,  bringing  on  the  judgment.  "  And  the 
temple  of  God  was  opened  in  heaven,  and  there  was  seen  in  his  tem- 
ple the  ark  of  his  testament." 

But  it  has  also  been  argued,  that  the  two  witnesses  were  the  true 
Church,  and  that  as  they  continued  to  prophesy  during  the  1260  days, 
the  Church  therefore  did  exist.  That  these  two  witnesses  were  the 
Spirit  of  God,  who  also  dwells  in  the  Church  when  in  its  order  and 
power,  will  not  be  contested,  being  the  two  olive  trees  and  the  two 
candlesticks  which  stand  before  the  God  of  the  whole  earth,  the  two 
having  respect  to  the  revelation  of  God  to  men  in  the  fijst  appearance 
29 


434  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

of  Christ  in  the  male,  and  the  second  in  the  female.  But  the  pro- 
priety of  representing  the  Church  in  order  and  haying  the  power  of 
salvation,  as  being  clothed  in  sackcloth,  remains  to  be  shown,  or  rather 
to  be  rejected  as  absurd  ;  the  Church  being  always  in  a  prosperous 
state  when  it  has  Christ  in  it.  Accordingly,  through  the  long  period 
of  darkness,  many  witnesses  arose,  influenced,  no  doubt,  by  the  true 
Spirit,  who  testified  against  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  times, 
but  could  not  show  the  substance  otherwise  than  in  prophecy,  and  the 
more  pure  their  testimony  was,  to  the  greater  distance  they  were  se- 
cluded from  the  only  remaining  church  on  earth — that  which  had  the 
form  but  denied  the  power.  These  two  witnesses  therefore,  so  far 
from  being  the  true  Church,  or  even  having  any  access  to  the  true 
Church  on  earth,  were  turned  out  of  doors  to  go  in  sackcloth  dui'ing 
that  period,  while  they  made  war  on  the  usurpers  of  the  temple  to  re- 
gain it  in  the  end. 

But  admitting  that  those  two  witnesses  were  the  true  Church,  they 
also  had  to  be  killed.     "  And  when  they  shall  have  finished  their  tes- 
timony, the  beast  that  ascendeth  out  of  the  bottomless  pit  shall  make 
war  against  them,  and  shall  overcome  them  and  kill  them.     And  their 
dead  bodies  shall  lie  in  the  street  of  the  great  city  which  spiritually 
is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified.     And 
they  of  the  people,  and  kindreds,  and  nations,  shall  see  their  dead 
bodies  three  days  and  an  half,  and  shall  not  suffer  their  dead  bodies 
to  be  put  in  graves."     Where  then  was  the  Church  when  the  only 
remaining  witnesses  were  killed  .''     It  could  have  no  existence  even 
on  that  plan,  until  the  Spirit  of  life  from  God  entered  into  them  again, 
or  until  the  revelation  of  God  began  again  to  be  restored,  which  was 
introductory  to  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet  in  the  coming  of 
Christ  to  judgment.     Thus  as  the  Christ  of  God  was  killed,  or  put  to 
death  in  the  flesh  and  revived  in  the  Spirit,  previously  to  the  giving 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  building  and  forming  of  the  Gospel  Church 
in  his  first,|,app earing,  so  in  his  second  appearing,  the  same  Christ,  or 
two  witnesses,  as   aforesaid,  were  killed,  being  put  to  death  in  the 
people  who  bore  the  testimony,   and   after  three   days  and  a  half 
revived  again,  the  testimony  of  God  having  then  revived  with   a 
deeper  work  than  ever,  preparatory  to  the  giving  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
or  the  coming  of  Christ  in  his  spiritual  kingdom,  to  be  built  up  for- 
ever.    But  it  is  no  doubt  correct  to  consider  the  three  days  and  a 
half,  the  same  time  as  the  forty  and  two  months,  during  which  these 
witnesses  prophesied  clothed  in  sackcloth.     But  they  were  killed; 
and  had  no  continuance  to  build  the  Church  in  the  order  and  power 
of  salvation.     All  they  could  do  in  that  time  was  to  bear  testimony ; 
and  as  they  finished  their  testimony  from  time  to  time  they  were 
kiUed.     And  the  representation  is  sufiiciently  strong  to  confirm  the 
fact,  that  no  Church  existed  in  order,  or  having  the  power  of  salva- 
tion, during  those  42  months,  or  1260  years. 

The  result  then  of  our  inquiry  must  be,  according  to  the  few  things 
here  stated,  to  which  more  might  be  added  if  consistent  with  the 
present  design,  that  the  apostacy  and  corruption,  during  the  reign  of 
Antichrist,  were  universal  and  total ;  so  that  although  many  rose  up 
from  time  to  time,  and  testified  against  the  prevailing  errors,  none 
were  able  to  stand,  or  to  support  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  one  body, 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  4SS- 

at  all  on  the  earth  ;  for  the  beast  made  war  with  the  saints,  and  over- 
came them.  It  must  therefore  necessarily  follow,  as  before  stated, 
that  all  those  churches  which  are  not  built  on  the  second  revelation 
of  Christ,  are  one  side  of  the  foundation,  and  are  lacking  in  all  respects 
to  that  Gospel  which  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  ;  although 
among  many  of  them  there  may  often  be  a  good  degree  of  the  power 
of  God,  as  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  of  life  from  God,  which  has  again 
entered  into  the  witnesses,  which  serves  as  a  preparatory  work  like 
the  ministry  of  John,  to  prepare  the  way  for  Christ  in  his  kingdom  : 
for  this  is  God's  manner  of  working. 

And  that  this  is  the  true  state  of  the  churches,  is  proved  by  pain- 
ful experience,  not  only  in  their  not  being  able  to  keep  their  revivals, 
and  the  degree  of  power  which  they  once  had,  but  by  another  con- 
comitant and  universal  inability  to  minister  necessary  and  competent 
relief  to  souls  who  come  inquiring  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved. 
This  is  the  case  with  them  all,  without  the  exception  of  a  solitary 
case.  Some  acknowledge  it  openly,  and  plead  that  it  is  the  preroga- 
tive of  God  only,  in,  as  they  say,  his  own  time  :  as  if  his  time  were 
not  now.  "  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time  ;  behold,  now  is  the 
day  of  salvation  ;"  and  again  :  "  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice, 
harden  not  your  hearts."  Others  say.  They  are  able  by  the  help  of 
God,  as  they  speak,  to  give  sufficient  instructions,  but  God  must  ac- 
company the  word  with  his  power,  or  it  will  be  of  no  force.  Because, 
say  they,  Paul  may  plant  and  Apollos  may  water,  but  God  giveth  the 
increase.  As  if  the  Gospel  itself  were  not  the  power  of  God  to  sal- 
vation, or  the  very  word  of  power  from  God ;  or  as  if  the  increase 
were  any  the  less  ascribed  to  God  by  its  being  the  genuine  fruit  of 
the  true  Gospel,  ministered,  received  and  obeyed  :  the  Gospel  is  of 
God. 

But  others  maintain  that  the  fault  rests  with  the  people,  who,  though 
some  of  them  inquire,  are  not  willing  to  be  saved  on  God's  terms.  No 
doubt  resisting  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  the  truth,  will  prevent  the  most  gen- 
uine Gospel  from  producing  its  desirable  effects.  But  this  is  not  the 
case  of  which  I  speak :  there  are  many  swift  witnesses  against  the  so- 
cieties of  people  who  are  called  Christian,  and]  not  have  received  the 
faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  that  none  of  their  best  preach- 
ers or  brightest  Christians,  are  able  to  direct  souls  in  the  way  to  God, 
or  in  other  words,  to  preach  to  them  Christ,  to  the  satisfying  of  their 
judgment  and  conscience,  let  their  inquiries  be  ever  so  sincere,  or  their 
efforts  ever  so  violent.  But  the  best  they  can  do,  and  farthest  they 
can  go  is,  when  they  have  given  all  their  counsel,  and  used  all  their  en- 
deavours, to  leave  the  matter,  as  they  say,  with  God  ;  as  if  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ  had  not  Christ  to  minister,  or  were  not  sent  to  do  his 
work,  notwithstanding  that  God  has  made  them  able  ministers  of  the 
new  testament,  or  covenant,  not  of  the  letter  but  of  the  Spirit,  that  is, 
of  Christ,  for  "  the  Lord  is  that  Spirit.  And  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  is  liberty."  (2  Cor.  iii.  6, 17.)  This  sentence,  Noio 
the  Lord  is  that  Spirit^  has  direct  relation  to  the  words.  Not  of  the  let- 
ter but  of  the  Spirit ;  the  intermediate  verses  being  a  parenthetical 
digression,  as  was  common  with  Paul.  I  say  ;  sometimes  they  charge 
it  on  the  inquirers  who  cannot  get  salvation,  who  are  also  ignorant 
enough  to  take  the  blame,  and  clear  God,  as  they  speak  ;  as  if  that  were 


436  FAMILIAR   OBSERVATIONS. 

any  exculpation  of  the  character  or  name  of  God,  after  all  the  fair  and 
unreserved  promises  in  the  Gospel  to  those  who  seek,  to  leave  souls 
under  condemnation,  and  finally  in  damnation,  because  they  cannot  get 
salvation,  neither  are  able  by  any  means  to  find  in  themselves  the  cause 
which  prevents  them,  nor  to  put  it  away  if  found.  But  had  they  true 
ministers  of  Christ  to  preach  to  them,  they  could  find  the  cause,  and,  if 
they  chose,  an  adequate  method  to  remove  it. 

All  these  pleas,  and  all  others,  which  any  people  can  use  for  their 
own  exculpation,  who  call  themselves  Christians,  and  are  at  any  loss  to 
tell  honest  inquirers,  at  any  time,  to  the  satisfying  of  their  judgment 
and  conscience,  the  way  of  eternal  life,  without  any  insurmountable 
difl&culty  attending  it,  unavoidably  accuse  those  who  make  them,  of  the 
belief,  that  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  is  a  power  one  side  of  the 
Gospel  and  distinct  from  it,  thus  making  the  Gospel  a  lie  and  God  a 
liar  ;  for  according  to  his  authority,  it  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation. 
Such  also,  to  be  consistent,  must  believe  in  absolute  and  particular  elec- 
tion :  because  there  is  no  other  principle  according  to  which  any  man 
may  not  find  salvation  where  the  Gospel  is  preached. 

All  these  professors,  however,  can  borrow  the  words  of  holy  men  out 
of  the  Scriptures,  (or  oftener  steal  them,  conscious  that  they  do  not 
fill  up  the  character,  nor  possess  the  same  power  of  the  Gospel  which 
dictated  those  words,)  and  say:  "Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved  and  thy  house ;"  and  "  He  that  believeth  and 
is  baptized  shall  be  saved  ;"  and  the  like.  But  these  sayings  have  not 
the  desired  effect.  For  though  they  can  borrow  the  words  of  those 
holy  men  at  their  pleasure,  they  cannot  communicate  the  same  in  pow- 
er, so  as  to  beget  faith  in  the  people  and  set  them  in  order  for  eternal 
life  when  they  believe.  And  even  when  one  among  them  has  received, 
or  experienced  what  they  call  religion,  he  cannot  tell  another  how  to 
get  it :  I  speak  of  those,  you  may  know,  who  believe  that  religion  is  a 
living  principle. 

But  it  will  be  argued  that  this  statement  is  not  correct ;  for  this  is  not 
always  the  case  with  those  professed  Christians  :  often  their  ministers 
preach  and  the  people  believe,  and  receive  the  very  same  powerful  re- 
ligion which  is  preached.  A  man  can  without  doubt  minister  that 
which  he  has  in  his  heart.  Therefore  in  times  of  revivals  there  are 
many  instances  of  this  kind,  which  are  a  good  pattern  of  the  true  Gospel. 
But  as  before  stated,  this  power  they  are  not  able  to  keep ;  which 
proves,  that  it  is,  at  best,  only  as  new  wine  in  old  bottles,  therefore  it 
runs  out  and  the  bottles  perish.  After  a  time  they  become  dry  and  for- 
mal, and  can  help  no  soul.  And  not  only  so;  but  in  the  best  times, 
and  warmest  revivals,  when  the  power  is  flying  from  soul  to  soul,  and 
from  faith  to  faith  with  greatsuccess,  many  inquire  the  way  who  cannot 
find  it,  and  none  can  tell  them  ;  which  shows  in  their  best  times,  that 
they  are  lacking  in  respect  to  that  treasure  of  Gospel  knowledge  and 
power,  necessary  to  that  perfect  Gospel,  which  is  the  power  of  God  to 
salvation  to  every  one  who  believes,  and  has  also  in  it  the  power  of  be- 
getting faith  in  the  hearers.  Hence  it  comes  to  pass  in  such  times, 
that  some  of  those  who  believe  as  clearly  and  firmly  as  any  others,  in 
the  ministrations  of  those  times,  can  neither  give  nor  receive  any  satis- 
factory evidence  of  eternal  life.  This  could  not  be  where  the  true  Gos- 
pel is  preached,  unless  by  known  and  willful  disobedience.     But  farther 


FAMILIAR   OBSERVATIONS.  437 

yet,  censorious  as  it  may  appear,  it  is  true,  that  in  the  best  of  times 
among  those  professors,  none  of  them  experience  that  work  of  grace 
which  abidingly  maintains  its  ground  with  unshaken  confidence  that 
they  are  the  children  of  God  and  in  the  way  of  eternal  life.  They  have 
their  doubts  and  fears,  and  do  not  hold  fast  the  beginning  of  their  cop- 
fidence  stedfast  to  the  end,  as  those  who  are  partakers  with  Christ. 
(Heb.  iii.  14.)  Generally  the  most  dishonest  and  least  enlightened 
have  the  least  trouble  about  their  condition  ;  and  when  the  power  is 
greatly  abated  many  can  become  professors  who  could,  make  no  stand 
in  the  heat  of  a  revival.  And  the  confidence  of  many,  not  to  say  the 
major  part,  is  built  on  the  bare  assertions  of  another.  Their  preach- 
ers and  others  tell  them  that  to  experience  certain  exercises  is  conver- 
sion ;  and  on  these  they  build  ;  and  that  is  about  all  they  know.  "But 
they,  measuring  themselves  bj'  themselves,  and  comparing  [themselves 
among  themselves,  are  not  wise."     (2  Cor  x.  12.) 

Jn  this  situation  I  found  the  churches  before  I  found  the  everlasting 
Gospel.  There  had  been  a  very  great  and  general  revival.  The  peo- 
ple of  different  denominations  were  more  or  less  under  its  influence. 
Converts  had  been  numerous  and  their  exercises  extraordinary  ;  con- 
vincing and  alarming  to  the  beholders,  and  marvellous  in  their  nature 
and  appearances  ;  with  which  you  are  not  unacquainted.  Those  among 
us  who  followed  the  light  of  God,  ministered  in  that  revival,  and  were 
not  held  in  bondage  by  the  traditions  of  men,  or  the  comments  of  hu- 
man wisdom,  received,  from  time  to  time, renewed  and  increasing  light 
from  God,  opening  their  understanding,  to  understand  the  Scriptures 
on  one  subject  or  another.  Agreement  in  sentiments  became  great, 
though  far  from  perfection  ;  as  that  was  not  the  perfecting  work,  but 
sent  before  to  break  in  pieces  the  old  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  new. 
Yet  forbearance  and  fellowship,  among  those  of  different  tenets,  abound- 
ed to  an  admiration.  And  the  testimony  or  prophecy  was,  That  the 
day  of  the  Lord,  or  Millenium,  was  at  hand,  and  that  that  revival 
would  never  cease  until  that  day  should  commence. 

We  began  to  learn,  in  contradistinction  from  all  the  received  tradi- 
tions, that  it  is  the  privilege  and  the  character  of  a  Christian  to  live 
free  from  sin  ;  and  many  aimed  to  put  it  into  practice,  but  power 
was  wanting  ;  although  some  got  so  far  as  to  be  almost  persuaded,  and 
on  occasions  to  assert  with  great  boldness  that  they  had  attained  to  it. 
But  in  a  short  time,  by  painful  experience,  they  would  find  to  the  con- 
trary, and  in  a  few  days,  or  perhaps  hours,  be  (I  know  for  one)  almost 
in  black  despair  of  ever  being  saved.  We  also  began  to  learn,  that 
the  work  of  God  in  Christ  is  an  increasing  work  to  the  perfect  day  ; 
and  that  by  the  true  Gospel  of  Christ  and  in  him,  there  is  access  to  the 
Holy  of  Holies,  and  that  this  access  is  the  privilege  of  all  true  believers. 
In  preaching  publicly  on  these  topics,  which  I  saw  as  it  were  through 
a  vail,  I  have  seemed  to  myself  as  it  were  on  the  threshold.  But  as 
yet  there  was  no  entrance,  though  I  scarcely  knew  why  ;  for  though  I 
believed,  or  rather  knew  the  lack  was  in  me,  I  found  no  way  to  get  it 
removed.  And  O,  to  be  enlarged!  was  my  cry;  and  to  be  delivered 
from  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear,  and  to  be  freed  from  all  the 
fetters  of  sin  and  darkness  which  surrounded  me — but  no  escape  yet. 
My  distress  and  pain  increased  ;  though  sometimes  I  seemed  to  myself 
almost  ready  to  be  delivered.     We  had  begun  to  believe,  (I  can  say 


iSS  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

for  one,)  that  in  a  true  mission  of  a  minister  of  Christ,  tlie  Gospel 
would  be  so  clear  and  intelligible  that  all  could  understand  it,  and  a 
minister  could  teach  it  as  correctly  and  as  readily  as  a  teacher  of  letters 
could  teach  his  pupil  to  say  his  lesson.  And  it  was  my  understanding 
that  I  never  could  be  a  true  minister  of  the  Gospel,  until  I  could  stand 
in  such  near  relation  and  communion  with  Christ,  that  I  could  minis- 
tsr  the  Gospel  in  that  direct  and  intelligible  clearness,  that  any  one 
could  receive  it  who  would.  In  connection  with  this  we  also  began  to 
believe,  that  where  the  Gospel  does  not  flourish,  the  defect  lies  pri- 
marily and  principally  in  the  ministry.  Thus  when  Jesus  had  any 
thing  against  any  of  the  churches  in  Asia,  it  was  primarily  charged 
against  the  angel,  or  minister. 

These,  with  many  other  serious  truths,  we  began  to  learn  in  that 
day.  And  we  laboured  in  sore  travail  of  spirit  to  get  forward.  But 
many  began  to  find  themselves  at  the  end  of  their  journey,  until  some- 
thing farther  should  be  made  known.  Some  travelled  from  place  to 
place,  wherever  they  could  hear  of,  or  hope  to  see,  a  greater  or  deeper 
work  of  God  than  they  had  yet  found.  Some  beginning  to  despair  of 
ever  finding  salvation,  and  some  using  the  most  vigorous  efforts,  in  a 
firm  and  full  faith  that  God  would  increase  his  work  and  bring  on  the 
latter  day  of  glory.  The  parts  where  I  lived  were  visited  from  a  great 
distance  in  quest  of  clearer  light ;  while  during  the  time  I  was  in  great 
anxiety  to  see  some  of  my  brethren  in  the  ministry,  who  lived  at  a  dis- 
tance, to  know  if  they  could  help  me  any  farther  in  the  way  of  God. 
In  this  situation  I  spent  many  doleful  nights  and  sorrowful  days ;  yet 
not  without  some  cheering  support  from  God.  Generally,  when  min- 
istering in  public,  I  was  measurably  comfortable,  in  the  bold  hope 
of  eternal  life,  firmly  believing  in  the  truth  of  the  Gospel.  But  in  the 
intermediate  times,  I  commonly  suffered  sore  travail,  frequently  on  the 
borders  of  despair  ;  by  which  I  no  doubt  gained  more  real  substance 
eventually,  than  if  I  had  enjoyed  more  ease  and  comfort.  But  the 
nature  of  sin  I  could  not  get  removed  out  of  my  heart  and  breast  ;  it 
would  show  itself,  or  rather,  it  was  shown  to  me,  as  a  separating  wall 
between  God  and  my  soul :  That  was  my  plague  ;  it  kept  condemna- 
tion in  sight. 

In  the  mean  time  some  were  sinking  deeper  into  the  flesh,  and  settling 
back  into  the  beggarly  elements  of  the  world ;  while  others  were  grow- 
ing bold  in  their  testimony  against  the  flesh  and  all  sin,  ready  to  take 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  violence.  But  the  day  drew  near  ;  and 
God  would  not  let  the  people  rest,  until  he  had  given  them  a  fair  trial 
for  eternal  life,  and  an  opportunity  to  show  themselves — who  were 
honestly  in  pursuit  of  salvation  to  the  spirit,  and  who  loved  the  flesh 
and  their  own  pleasures  more  than  God  and  salvation.  And  thus  it  is 
written  :  (Mai.  iii.  18:)  "  Then  shall  ye  return,  and  discern  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked;  between  him  that  serveth  God  and  him 
that  serveth  him  not." 

In  this  situation  of  things,  of  which  I  have  given  a  very  short  and 
general  sketch,  the  everlasting  Gospel  reached  us,  and  soon  began  to 
sever  the  precious  from  the  vile.  The  spirit,  which  is  for  salvation, 
began  to  be  clearly  distinguished  and  separated  from  the  flesh,  which 
is  to  be  destroyed.  And  honest  souls,  who  did  really  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness,  found  a  safe  refuge  in  the  blood  and  cross  of  Christ, 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  439 

while  those  who  preferred  the  flesh  had  a  fair  and  open  opportunity  to 
retreat.  And  so  it  is  to  this  day.  Men  will  stumble  at  the  cross  be- 
ing disobedient.  But  the  fair  and  equitable  privilege  of  the  Gospel 
will  never  fail,  until  all  souls  have  had  a  fair  trial,  and  made  their  final 
choice,  each  one  for  one.  For  this  reason  it  is  justly  called  the  ever- 
lasting Gospel ;  it  makes  finishing  work. 

This  is  the  Gospel  which  the  people  called  Shakers  have  received, 
and  in  which  they  stand ;  and  this  is  the  radical  difference  between 
them  and  all  other  people,  that  they  believe  in  Christ  as  having  made 
his  appearance  the  second  time  on  earth,  and  having  again  found  to 
himself  a  body,  the  Church.  Their  faith  and  testimony  on  this  point 
are  eagerly  contested  in  the  world,  while  on  their  part  they  are  willing 
and  desirous  to  have  the  matter  investigated  with  all  diligence  and 
honesty,  and  to  let  their  works  be  the  final  test.  The  testimony  is 
either  true  or  false  ;  and  the  trial  of  it  stands  thus  :  That  in  it  we  are 
able  to  keep  the  power  of  salvation,  in  the  experience  of  all  who  will 
receive  it.  If  therefore  the  testimony  be  not  true,  a  falsehood  is  ca- 
pable of  producing  better  effects  than  all  the  truth  on  the  earth,  and 
of  being  the  power  of  God  to  salvation.  For  this  is  the  testimony  on 
which  the  work  stands  ;  it  is  therefore  true.  With  respect  to  the  visi- 
ble fruits,  they  are  open  to  the  inspection  of  all  men,  as  it  is  written : 
"  He  shall  set  up  an  ensign  for  the  nations."  And  again  :  "  Go  through, 
go  through  the  gates ;  prepare  the  way  of  the  people  ;  cast  up,  cast 
up  the  highway  ;  gather  out  the  stones  ;  lift  up  a  standard  for  the 
people."  (Isa.  xi.  12,  and  Ixii.  10.) 

When  the  Gospel  appeared  to  me,  and  I  became  acquainted  with 
it,  I  found  it  answered  my  faith  and  filled  my  soul  in  all  things.  But 
with  it  appeared  the  cross.  In  it,  and  in  those  who  bore  it,  appeared 
the  holiness  of  God  in  a  degree  beyond  any  thing  which  I  had  ever 
seen  or  heard.  And  in  this  I  was  not  alone  ;  others  also  said  the 
same  ;  and  I  heard  the  report  of  it  among  those  who  eventually  re- 
jected all  for'  the  pleasures  of  the  flesh.  My  nature  also  rebelled 
against  the  cross  ;  being  the  same  with  that  of  all  other  men  :  Enmity 
against  God ;  because  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed 
can  be.  If  therefore  any  possible  way  could  have  been  devised,  or 
could  have  existed,  one  side  of  the  cross,  that  way  would  have  been 
chosen.  My  nature  did  not  love  the  sword  a  whit  better  than  the 
same  in  others  ;  but  God  had  in  righteous  judgment  appointed  it  to 
death,  or  no  soul  could  inherit  life.  "  For  whosoever  will  save  his 
life  shall  lose  it ;  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the 
Gospel's,  the  same  shall  save  it."  (Markviii.  35.)  The  cry  of  Anti- 
christ, delusion,  deceivers,  and  the  like,  was  clamoured  all  about ;  but 
with  me  the  matter  was  serious  in  the  fear  of  God.  I  had  read  in  the 
Scriptures'  concerning  the  work  of  God  in  the  last  days,  that  "  none 
of  the  wicked  shall  understand  ;  but  the  wise  shall  understand :" 
(Dan.  xii.  10  :)  and  I  weighed  the  matter  soberly,  fearing  lest, 
if  I  hastily  rejected  the  testimony  of  the  last  and  finishing  work  of 
God,  as  that  was  said  to  be,  I  should  lose  my  soul,  being  found  among 
those  who  are  wicked  and  understand  not.  Dost  thou  not  remember, 
that  I  told  thee  of  these  things  while  I  was  yet  with  thee  on  the  road 
from  Flemingsburg,  on  the  last  day  we  ever  rode  together  ?  Another 
Scripture  which  took  hold  on  my  soul  was,  that  "  Satan  is  not  divided 


440  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

against  Satan."     This  testimony  was,  and  is  now,  tlie  swiftest  witness 
against  Satan  of  any  thing  which  I  had  ever  heard. 

And  now  the  question  is,  Didst  thou  deal  thus  honestly  and  care- 
fully, in  the  fear  of  God,  with  thy  own  soul,  always  keeping  that  side 
where  truth  and  the  example  of  Christ  had  the  lead,  without  being 
swayed  by  the  desires  and  enjoyments  of  the  flesh  ?  I  believe  not ; 
else  thou  also  hadst  been  as  I  am.  Dost  thou  not  remember  telling 
me,  on  that  same  day,  that  thou  wast  never  so  completely  swallowed 
up  with  any  man  as  with  Issachar  Bates,  while  he  opened  the  testi- 
mony ?  And  that  thou  hadst  never  heard  any  thing  with  which  thou 
wast  so  well  pleased,  or  which  so  perfectly  filled  thy  soul,  as  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Shakers,  until  they  came  on  marriage  .?  that  that  was  the 
first  thing  on  which  thou  didst  think  them  lame  }  But  that  thou  didst 
not  object  to  that  first,  but  to  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  .?  I 
say,  dost  thou  not  remember  these  things  .''  Concealment  before  the 
world  may  stand  a  while  ;  but  concealment  before  God  will  not  avail. 

But  with  me  the  point  to  be  settled  was,  whether  I  could  not,  on 
the  evidence  which  1  had  found,  venture  my  soul  in  the  same  faith 
with  those  people,  were  it  not  for  the  cross.  The  answer  was  unavoid- 
ably in  the  affirmative  ;  as  it  also  is  with  those  who  honestly  propound 
it  to  their  own  consciences,  after  making  themselves  acquainted  with 
the  faith.  Of  course,  the  next  question  to  be  settled  was,  Shall  I 
take  up  my  cross,  and  deny  myself,  and  follow  Christ,  suffering  all  the 
privations  against  the  flesh  which  the  Gospel  requires,  that  I  may 
obtain  salvation  by  the  cross  .?  or  shall  I  refuse,  and  lose  my  soul  and 
all  my  labours  .?  But  this  question  I  confess  I  never  spent  the  labour 
to  form,  as  I  remember.  Salvation  was  at  that  time  the  uppermost 
matter  in  my  mind,  as  it  had  long  been.  All  my  efforts,  all  means, 
and  every  thing  called  Gospel  heretofore,  had  failed  of  producing  this 
effect,  and  of  affording  genuine  satisfaction  that  it  would  be  gained. 
I  therefore  had  not  found  that  peaceable  satisfaction  without  wavering  ; 
neither  had  I  ever  found  or  conversed  with  any  one  who  had  it,  ex- 
cept partially  and  with  inconstancy,  until  the  present  faith  was  open- 
ed, with  the  testimony  that  Christ  had  appeared  the  second  time,  to 
make  a  last  and  finishing  work  with  men.  This  testimony  in  its  open- 
ing gave  a  good  and  favourable  prospect,  which  continued  to  increase 
on  farther  trial.  I  therefore,  after  mature  deliberation,  closed  in 
with  it,  and  I  do  not  repent ;  being  always  able  to  appeal  to  God  and 
my  own  conscience,  that  what  I  have  done,  I  have  done  in  the  honesty 
and  integrity  of  my  heart  before  God  ;  and  the  fruits  have  been  ac- 
cordingly. "  The  work  of  righteousness  is  peace,  and  the  effect  of 
righteousness,  quietness  and  assurance  forever."  This  is  an  effect 
which  nothing  but  righteousness,  even  the  righteousness  of  God  can 
produce,  and  which  every  man  inherits  according  to  his  progress  in 
the  work. 

No  doubt  you  still  hear  more  or  less  of  the  cry  of  deception  and 
wickedness  against  this  work  and  this  people  ;  and  for  aught  I  know, 
may  be  an  active  propagator  :  (See  Reply,  p.  76,  and  Address,  pp. 
106,  107  :)  "  For  as  concerning  this  sect,  we  know  that  everywhere 
it  is  spoken  against."  But  with  every  judiciously  informed  and  can- 
did man,  these  clamours  are  idle  tales,  however  they  may  influence 
dupes  and  bigots.     (See  Letters,  p.  1.)     It  is  a  conclusive  fact,  that 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  441 

no  combination  in  wickedness  or  for  wicked  works,  or  deceptive  works, 
can  stand  together  in  the  open  light,  and  for  the  inspection  of  all 
civil  characters,  with  a  bold  and  open  testimony  against  all  evil,  and 
contrary  to  the  torrent  of  corruption  naturally  prevalent  in  the  world, 
without  any  other  bond  than  faith  and  love.  The  combination  there- 
fore, or  union  more  properly,  which  exists  among  us,  and  which  is  often 
objected  to  as  an  allegation  of  evil,  is  an  irresistible  argument  to  the 
contrary,  so  long  as  the  rule  of  Christ  is  good  and  safe,  that  "  By  this 
shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  an- 
other." If  this  rule  could  be  imitated  it  could  prove  nothing  ;  for 
how  should  it  be  known  who  had  the  true  love  and  who  the  counter- 
feit .''  This  union  is  more  than  can  be  produced  and  practised  by  any 
people  of  a  different  faith.  I  suppose  thou  art  not  unmindful  that  ye 
tried  it  in  Caneridge  and  Concord,  and  could  not  effect  it.  This  union, 
which  is  the  effect  of  that  faith  which  is  of  Christ,  and  that  love  which 
is  the  bond  of  perfectness,  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace, 
is  an  ensign  visible  to  all  who  have  eyes  to  see.  In  this  can  be  seen 
that  love  which  is  not  in  word  and  in  tongue,  but  in  work  and  in  truth. 
And  as  for  the  secret  iniquities  and  impositions  of  which  some  talk, 
who  love  the  world  more  than  the  Father,  the  refutation  is  easy,  if  a 
serious  reply  be  eligible  ;  if  two  cannot  walk  together  except  they  be 
agreed,  how  much  more  impracticable  for  a  numerous  society  to  re- 
main together,  unless  all  agree  in  a  firm  faith  of  the  truth  and  honesty 
of  the  work  .''  For  who  will  devote  their  all  for  that  which  they  do 
not  believe  is  worth  all .''  By  what  law  can  men  be  compelled  to  con- 
tinue in  such  a  society  against  their  own  faith  and  choice  .?  Or  who 
is  ignorant  enough  not  to  know,  that  where  wicked  deeds  are  prac- 
tised, in  violation  of  what  is  testified,  the  whole  scheme  is  evil .''  The 
argument  therefore  is  conclusive,  that  the  union  which  exists  among 
us,  and  though  small  in  the  beginning  increases  in  the  progress  of  the 
work,  is  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  It  therefore 
remains  true,  as  before  stated,  that  if  this  testimony  be  false,  unright- 
eousness, or  a  lie,  can  produce  better  fruits  than  all  the  righteousness, 
or  truth,  on  the  earth  :  it  is  therefore  true  and  no  lie.  As  for  disaf- 
fected persons — those  who  stumble  at  the  cross — they  go  away,  as  it  is 
known,  and  carry  such  reports  as  their  own  consciences  and  other  in- 
fluences will  permit.  But  such  cannot  stop  the  progress  of  the  truth  ; 
few  of  them  have  the  hardihood  to  attach  any  criminality  or  error  to 
the  faith  or  practice  of  the  people,  except  this  be  criminal,  that  it  is 
all  against  the  carnal  mind.  Yea,  where  is  the  man  of  upright  de- 
portment, who  has  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  people,  and  will 
say  any  evil  of  them  .'' 

Some  indeed  have  raised  heavy  objections  against  the  faith  in  which 
we  stand,  because  of  the  confidence  which  it  inspires ;  they  cannot 
endure  such  assurance  and  boldness  in  the  faith.  I  was  told  by  a 
bold  professor  in  my  last  discourse  with  him,  that  confident  is  the 
very  mark  of  superstition.  I  confess  however  such  assertions  have 
little  weight  with  me,  as  I  have  never  read,  nor  received  any  such  in- 
structions through  the  medium  of  revelation,  and  while  I  can  read  on 
the  contrary  in  the  Scriptures,  that  we  are  God's  house  if  we  hold  fast 
the  confidence  and  the  rejoicing  of  the  hope  firm  unto  the  end  ;  and 
that  we  are  made  partakers  with  Christ  if  we  hold  the  beginning  of 


442  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

our  confidence  stedfast  to  tlie  end  ;  and  again,  "  Let  us  hold  fast  the 
profession  of  our  faith  without  wavering ;  for  he  is  faithful  that  pro- 
mised." (Heb.  iii.  6,  14,  and  x.  23.)  If  the  effect  of  righteousness 
he  quietness  and  assurance  for  ever,  it  is  strange  if  the  effect  of  error 
and  superstition  be  the  same,  which  has  always  been  marked  with  mo- 
bility and  change,  because  a  wrong  foundation  cannot  support  a  build- 
ing. But  if  this  be  the  promised  effect  of  righteousness  in  the  latter 
days,  or  time  of  the  Gospel,  is  it  not  strange  that  any  can  call  them- 
selves Christians  without  it  ? 

In  the  beginning  I  was  warned  by  my  former  brethren,  against 
hearing  the  Shakers  ;  as  you  complain,  the  people  are  warned  of  you, 
and  fly  from  you  as  from  the  face  of  a  serpent.  But  I  determined  to 
be  honest ;  and  told  my  hearers  boldly,  that  I  would  follow  the  light 
and  the  truth  where  I  could  find  it,  and  that  if  these  led  me  to  the 
Shakers,  to  the  Shakers  I  would  go  ;  and  said  also,  that  if  the  Shak- 
ers would  show  me  evidence  according  to  the  Scriptures  that  they 
were  right,  I  would  submit ;  although  I,  that  is  my  flesh,  was  in  oppo- 
sition all  the  time.  By  approaching  so  near  and  looking  into  their 
testimony,  I  was  taken,  by  that  which  comes  as  a  snare  upon  all  the 
earth.  On  this  account  I  have  suffered  reproach  and  rejection  by  my 
former  brethren  and  connections,  even  to  the  violation  of  the  bonds 
of  natural  friendship.  (See  Address,  p.  5.)  But  as  I  esteem  it  bet- 
ter to  retain  the  truth,  with  openness  of  heart,  and  in  the  light,  than 
to  be  governed  by  my  own  fleshly  mind  in  concealment  from  the  light, 
I  am  not  sorry  that  I  made  as  free  with  the  Shakers  as  I  did.  And 
notwithstanding  that  I  have  been  rejected  as  a  heretic  by  the  majo- 
rity of  th»se  with  whom  I  formerly  had  fellowship,  as  Paul  once  was, 
and  on  that  account  have  suffered  many  inconveniences,  and  the  pri- 
vation of  much  satisfaction  which  I  would  have  found,  in  seeing  them 
heartily  enter  the  way  of  life  and  peace,  when  many  of  them  were  at 
the  door,  I  am  not  yet  overcome,  nor  in  despair  of  yet  seeing  God 
gather  a  people  to  his  name  out  of  those  societies.  Although  the  pre- 
sent prospect  is  poor  towards  the  majority  of  those  who  have  seen  the 
light  of  the  day,  and  have  closed  their  eyes  against  it,  some  may  yet 
be  found,  who  being  relieved  from  the  fetters  of  prejudicial  opposition, 
will  more  deliberately  and  candidly  prove  all  things,  and  finding  the 
work  imperfect  where  they  are,  will  eventually  submit,  to  take  up 
their  cross,  and  suffer  shame  for  the  name  of  Christ.  Besides  :  The 
rising  generation  must  have  their  day  and  offer  of  the  Gospel.  No- 
thing of  the  same  nature  and  extent  could  be  more  grateful  to  my 
spirit,  than  to  find  those  people  sensibly  and  tenderly  feeling  the 
ground  on  which  they  stand.  For  I  am  still  persuaded,  that  many 
among  themwould  yet  be  willing  to  follow  Christ,  bearing  his  reproach, 
were  the  hindrances  taken  out  of  the  way.  When  !  0  when  will  men 
be  wise,  and  cease  to  condemn  without  a  fair  hearing,  and  to  reject  at 
a  distairce  what  is  unproved .?  Or  when  will  they  cease  to  use  their 
strongest  efforts  to  prevent  others  from  examining  what  they  have  dis- 
approved, without  a  fair  trial? 

The  very  unfavourable  and  ungenerous  reception  which  the  Gospel 
found  among  many  at  first,  prevented  many  others  from  a  fair  hearing. 
The  leaders  of  my  people,  said  God,  have  caused  them  to  err.  The 
preachers  who  had,  some  of  them,  promoted  the  revival  with  great  in- 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  443 

dustry  and  zeal,  and  had  looked  with  earnestness  for  the  commence- 
ment of  the  latter  day  of  glory,  were  foremost  in  the  opposition  when 
it  appeared.  Many  first  shall  be  last.  As  soon  as  it  was  found  that 
the  testimony  of  Christ  ran  counter  to  the  core  of  carnal  delights  and 
fleshly  lusts,  the  hue  and  cry  of  deceivers  was  raised  against  his  wit- 
nesses ;  and  all  were  warned  to  keep  at  a  safe  distance  from  them. 
Preachers  soon  began  to  give  back  from  the  light  which  they  them- 
selves received  and  propagated.  I  presume  thou  art  not  unmindful  of  the 
sermon  which  one  of  them  preached  at  Cabin  Creek,  and  afterwards,  by 
my  request  at  Bethel;  after  reading  these  words  :  "  Ask  ye  of  the  Lord 
rain  in  the  time  of  the  latter  rain  ;  so  the  Lord  shall  make  bright  clouds 
and  give  them  showers  of  rain,  to  every  one  grass  in  the  field."  (Zech. 
X.  1.)  In  which  he  stated  that  Christ  would  come  to  judgment  in  his 
people,  and  would  never  be  seen  coming  in  any  other  manner — that 
these  were  the  clouds  in  which  he  would  be  seen  coming — that  these 
were  the  white  horses — and  that  Christ  would  judge  the  world  by 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  by  the  power  of  his  Spirit  in  the  Gos- 
pel, and  no  other  way — and  that  the  day  was  at  hand  and  the  work 
then  commencing.  I  presume  thou  canst  also  remember,  when  the 
same  preacher,  after  he  had  heard  the  testimony  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  that  Christ  comes  to  judge  the  world  in  his  saints,  and  that  in  the 
kingdom  they  do  not  marry,  went  back,  and  in  my  presence  again 
preached  the  old  traditionary  system  which  he  had  exploded  !  One 
who  had  preached  in  the  blazing  light  and  power  of  God  in  the  revival, 
determinately  announced  in  a  general  conversation,  that  he  would  re- 
nounce all  the  preaching  which  he  had  preached  for  an  indefinitely 
limited  time,  perhaps  a  year  or  more,  time  enough  to  include  bgth  those 
sermons.  For,  said  he,  it  has  just  been  preparing  the  wa^lor  the 
Shakers.  And  what  was  the  matter,  which  put  the  preachers  into 
such  commotion  .?  Why,  they  that  have  turned  the  world  upside  down 
have  come  hither  also.  True  enough,  it  was  a  real  preparatory  work 
in  the  light  and  power  of  God,  for  the  entrance  of  his  eternal  kingdom. 
Two  more  preachers,  after  a  time,  (who  were  present  and  consented 
to  the  aforesaid  renunciation,)  who  had  never  given  the  subject  a  fair 
hearing,  having  been  early  in  the  opposition,  and  having  found,  sure 
enough,  that  the  light  of  the  revival  opened  the  way  for  the  Shakers, 
and  that  many  were  closing  in  with  the  faith,  have  given  these  an  emi-^ 
nent  place  among  their  reasons  for  retreating  to  their  former  ground,  as 
the  event  showed.  "  In  a  few  months  more  he,  (Richard  M'Nemar,) 
John  Dunlavy  and 'a  great  many  of  the  people,  were  caught  in  the  net 
of  Shakerism."  (For  as  a  snare  shall  it  come  on  all  them  that  dwell 
on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  Luke  xxi.  35.)  "  In  one  year  more 
Matthew  Houston,  who  had  been  converted  to  our  church  by  the  Let- 
ters on  Atonement,  became  a  Shaker  also.  Are  these  things  not  wor- 
thy of  notice  ?  Who  can  keep  their  eyes  from  the  light,  however 
mortifying  it  may  be  .'  On  the  review  of  all  these  things,  and  more 
which  might  be  mentioned,  we  were  obliged  to  change  our  minds." 
(See  R.  Marshall  and  J.  Thompson,  p.  23.)  Yea,  and  it  will  be  more 
mortifying  yet,  when  they  have  to  repent  and  change  their  minds  once 
more,  and  avow,  that  this  wild  enthusiasm  by  which  they  almost  con- 
fess they  were  obliged  to  change,  is  of  God,  to  which  they  have   to 


444  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

come  or  never  see  salvation,  and  that  their  enmity  against  the  cross 
and  self-denial  of  Christ  constituted  the  real  cause  of  their  renunciation 
of,  at  least  some  of  those  doctrines  which  they  now  term  errors.  But 
who  cannot  see  the  disingenuousness  of  such  reasoning  ?  And  what  is 
the  result  ?  They  have  renounceed  the  sentiments  which  sprung  up 
in  the  revival,  out  of  the  light  and  power  of  God,  which  the  people  re- 
ceived therein  ;  they  would  not  be  counted  enemies  to  the  revival  ; 
but  having  lopped  off  the  tender  fruit  they  have  lost  the  substance — 
the.  revival  with  them  all  is  no  more.  It  has  been  on  the  decline,  for 
the  most  part,  since  about  the  time  they  and  others  began  to  indulge  in 
their  opposition  to  the  Shakers  ;  or  rather  declined  faster  then,  for  with 
many  it  had  about  done  its  work  before.  Such  revivals  cannot  go  be- 
yond a  limited  extent,  in  that  they  are  weak  through  the  flesh.  It  is 
now  with  them,  reduced  to  a  shadow  or  less. 

One  preacher  in  a  conversation  said,  he  was  more  afraid  of  those 
three  men,  meaning  three  Shakers,  than  of  all  the  other  opposers  to  the 
revival.  But  if  the  Shakers  be  enemies  to  the  revival,  and  their  testi- 
mony not  true,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  the  people  who  know  these 
things,  and  also  know  where  the  truth  is,  do  not  keep  the  revival  ? 
Or  is  the  devil  stronger  than  God  ?  Or  did  God  send  in  enemies  to 
destroy  his  own  work }  How  preposterous  is  the  mind  of  man  !  of 
man,  while  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  self-denying  teachings  of  the 
Spirit,  and  the  cross  of  Christ !  Are  all  or  any  of  these  people  who 
dread  the  Shakers  Christians?  I  judge  not.  Shakers  are  not  built  on 
so  flimsy  a  foundation  as  to  change  their  sentiments,  or  be  afraid  of 
the  doctrines,  or  of  the  light  of  any  people.  Having  renounced  the 
things  T|[|iich  may  be  shaken,  to  hold  fast  those  which  cannot,  they  re- 
ceive a  Kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved. 

Had  I,  with  the  rest,  determined  to  serve  the  flesh  at  all  adventures, 
I  suppose  I  could  have  fabricated  an  objection  to  some  article  of  my 
former  faith,  affected  a  conviction,  and  returned  to  the  dead  sea  of  Cal- 
vinism in  whole  or  in  part.  But  what  would  I  have  gained?  I  should 
have  been  enveloped  in  darkness  and  death — beset  with  the  distressing 
apprehensions  of  eternal  death;  or  sunk  into  insensibility,  I  m.ighthave 
had  the  approbation  of  the  world  and  of  carnal  professors  ;  unless  the 
judgment  of  God  had  pursued  me  so  closely  as  to  deprive  me  of  that 
also.  For  if  the  light  which  was  in  me  had  become  darkness,  how 
great  would  that  darkness  have  been  ?  But  I  could  not  have  enjoyed 
the  cheering  approbation  of  a  good  conscience.  I  could  not  have  said, 
what  I  have  done^  I  have  done  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  or  in  simple  obe- 
dience to  God — it  would  have  been  to  subserve  the  purposes  and  de- 
sires of  the  flesh.  I  have  made  thorough  proof  of  what  is  called  reli- 
gion or  gospel  in  the  world,  and  salvation  is  not  known  one  side  of  the 
faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing. 

Besides ;  as  God  deals  with  people  according  to  their  privilege  and 
the  use  which  they  make  of  it,  before  the  true  light  was  restored, 
many  had  more  justification  and  peace  than  can  be  experienced  now, 
where  the  true  Gospel  is  known  and  not  obeyed.  "  The  times  of  this 
ignorance  God  winked  at."  "  And  this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light 
is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light  be- 
cause their  deeds  were  evil." 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  445 


SECTION    III. 

THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED,  WITH  FURTHER  REMARKS  ON  THE  WRITINGS 
OP    THE    SUPERSCRIBED. 

Barton  : — I  dispute  not  but  that  you  tave  received  more  light, 
and  a  better  understanding  of  the  Gospel  and  its  provisions,  than 
people  have  generally  had.  You  acknowledge  the  unquestionable 
privilege  of  all  who  hear  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  to  believe  in  him  on 
the  evidence  and  authority  of  the  Gospel,  without  any  previous  reno- 
vating work  of  the  Spirit  to  enable  them,  and  so  to  receive  of  his  full- 
ness and  grace  for  grace.  But  all  this  liberality,  true  as  it  is,  cannot 
show  the  way  of  life.  You  attribute  the  whole  to  faith  alone,  as  its 
immediate  eflFect ;  so  do  they  generally  who  oppose  you.  They  say 
by  imputation,  impartation,  or  application.  These  terms  and  their 
connections  you  justly  reject.  You  have  also  undertaken  to  show 
what  that  faith  is  by  which  a  man  becomes  a  Christian  ;  and  when  it 
is  all  said,  it  is  a  mere  moralizing  theory,  by  which  some  would  be 
affected,  if  well  narrated,  and  some  not,  like  the  other  systems.  Ac- 
cordingly, with  but  a  little  discernment,  you  may  find  numbers  who 
believe  these  statements  as  firmly  and  heartily  as  you,  and  yet  feel  no 
life  of  Christ,  because  the  real  grounds  of  Christianity  are  wanting. 
*'  By  faith,"  you  say,  "  in  the  blood  of  Jesus,  is  not  merely  to  believe 
that  he  died  on  Calvary — we  must  know  the  designs  of  the  death  of 
Jesus,  before  we  can  be  rightly  affected  by  it.  To  believe,  therefore, 
in  the  blood  of  Jesus,  is  to  believe  in  the  designs  of  it  as  well  as  that 
it  was  shed — that  the  law  is  abolished — the  New  Testament,  with 
all  its  fullness,  introduced  and  confirmed  to  every  creature — the 
resurrection  procured — the  dark  vail  between  earth  and  heaven  torn 
away — Heaven  opened — life  and  immortality  brought  to  light — and 
the  love  of  God  to  sinners  displayed."  (Address,  pp.  63,  57.)  And 
what  is  there  in  all  this  different  from  Calvinism,  except  as  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  New  Testament .?  Thus  men  have  been  for  centuries, 
fabricating  systems,  to  get  the  hearts  of  mankind  affected,  that  they 
may  be  saved  without  living  the  life  of  Christ,  who  left  us  an  example 
and  said.  Follow  me. 

But  you  add  a  little  after  (p.  58)  :  "  From  this  we  see  the  natural 
connection  between  faith  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  and  sanctifica- 
tion,  redemption,  &c."  Perhaps  you  see  the  connection,  as  plainly 
as  Calvinists  see  it  between  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ  and 
the  justification  of  the  elect.  But  I  confess  I  see  no  perfect  connec- 
tion in  either  plan  :  in  the  Calvinistic,  because  there  is  neither  Scrip- 
ture nor  reason  to  support  it ;  in  yours,  because  you  have  left  out  a 
main  link  in  the  chain  which  is  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  that  of  doing 
the  will  of  God,  or  following  Christ  who  has  left  us  an  example  that 
we  should  follow  his  steps.  I  know  that  souls  are  justified,  sancti- 
fied, and  finally  saved  by  or  through  faith,  and  never  without  it  ;  but 
not  as  the  proximate  cause  ;  the  immediate,  procuring  cause  of  justi- 


446  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

fication,  sanctification,  and  whole  salvation,  is  obedience.  "  Ye  have 
purified  your  souls  in  obeying  the  truth."  "  And  being  made  perfect 
he  became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  them  that  obey  him." 
And  this  view  of  the  subject  by  no  means  weakens  the  efficacy  of 
faith,  or  derogates  from  its  honour.  It  is  the  spring  to  that  obedience 
by  which  men  please  God.  "  But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to 
please  him ;  for  he  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and 
that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him."  But  with- 
out obedience  faith  can  justify  none.  "  But  wilt  thou  know,  O  vain 
man,  that  faith  without  works  is  dead  } — Ye  see  then  how  that  by 
works  a  man  is  justified  and  not  by  faith  only,"  or  without  works. 
"  For  as  the  body  without  the  Spirit  is  dead,  so  faith  without  works 
is  dead  also."  (Jas.  ii.  20,  24,  26.)  This  witness  is  true  ;  so  that 
faith  can  no  more  justify,  or  sanctify,  without  its  soul,  that  is,  works, 
than  a  dead  body  can  live,  and  perform  the  actions  of  life,  without 
its  spirit. 

But  you  have  added  (Ibid.)  :  "  I  am  far  from  thinking  that  every 
one  must  have  a  view  of  all  these  designs  of  his  blood,  before  they 
can  be  Christians.  Some,  in  the  death  of  Jesus,  may  only  discover 
the  love  of  God  to  sinners,  and  by  this  be  encouraged  to  trust  in  him." 
But  how  do  they  discover  this  }  Simply  by  believing  the  report  of 
it  in  the  word,  or  by  preaching  ^  for  faith  comes  by  hearing.  Then 
what  is  the  reason  that  all  those  who  unhesitatingly  believe  this  re- 
port, "  That  God  hath  commended  his  love  toward  us  in  that  while 
we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us,"  are  not  Christians  justified 
and  sanctified  ?  But  many  of  these,  I  conclude  thou  knowest,  have 
no  more  living  Christianity  than  the  devils  who  believe  and  tremble. 
You  will  perhaps  say  they  do  not  believe  aright,  or  in  the  Spirit,  or 
with  all  the  heart.  But  they  believe  according  to  the  testimony,  or 
they  believe  what  they  have  heard,  and  on  your  own  avowed  plan, 
this  is  all  you  can  ask  ;  but  yet  many  of  them  know  their  souls  are 
not  safe.  Now  resolve  the  doubt.  But  I  presume  you  are  not  un- 
aware, that  something  more  than  faith  is  necessary  ;  though  you  are 
not  able  to  tell  what,  more  than  I  was  before  I  found  the  everlasting 
Gospel,  unless  you  would  approach  still  nearer  to  the  Shakers.  These 
things  are  written  in  great  freedom  but  in  real  friendship. 

But  you  have  introduced  a  comparison  (Ibid.)  :  "  A  father  pro- 
vides plentifully  for  a  large  family  of  children.  Some  of  them  may 
know  the  means  by  which  the  father  got  the  provisions — others  may 
not  so  well  know,  and  the  youngest  may  scarcely  know  any  thing  more 
than  that  the  father's  love  provided  these  things.  Yet  they  all  eat 
and  thrive  without  quarrelling  about  the  means  by  which  the  provisions 
were  obtained."  And  you  might  have  added,  that  they  eat  and  thrive 
just  as  well,  without  knowing,  at  least  when  young,  whether  the  father's 
love  provided  these  things,  or  whether  the  earth  produced  them  spon- 
taneously, or  whether  they  came  some  other  way.  Thus  by  your  own 
simile,  if  a  good  one,  your  plan  of  faith  has  tapered  out  to  a  point 
NO  POINT.  And  let  me  honestly  admonish  you  to  look  out,  that  all 
your  labours  in  religion  do  not  end  there. 

In  all  your  writings  you  have  not  once  opened,  if  named  at  all,  the 
real  ground  of  justification,  or  that  in  which  the  life  of  Christianity 
consists,  clearly  to  the  understanding.    For  the  Gospel  is  preached  to 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  447 

natural  men,  to  sinners,  and  they  are  to  believe  before  they  can  be 
justified  :  this  is  your  avowed  plan,  and  it  is  a  true  one.  It  is  there- 
fore necessary  that  the  proper  and  immediate  ground  of  justification 
be  made  plain  to  the  physical  man.  In  plain  terms,  you  have  never 
shown  the  cross  of  Christ.  I  do  not  mean  that  wooden,  Roman  cross, 
on  which  his  animal  body  was  crucified  by  wicked  and  cruel  men. 
But  you  have  not  shown  how  he  died  to  sin  ;  for  that  was  his  death, 
according  to  Paul ;  and  what  is  that  cross  which  believers  in  him  have 
to  bear  daily,  (not  if  perchance  they  meet  with  it,)  else  cannot  be  his 
disciple — a  cross  daily  :  "  If  any  man  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daihj^  and  follow  me."  "  And  whoso- 
ever does  not  bear  his  cross  and  come  after  me,  cannot  be  my  disciple." 
(Luke  ix.  23,  and  xiv.  27.)  What  is  that  self-denial  .?  Is  it  practi- 
cal, or  merely  sentimental .''  Now  these  words  of  Christ  have  a  mean- 
ing, and  no  doubt  an  important  one.  If  therefore  the  Shakers  put  a 
wrong  construction  on  these  and  such  like  sayings,  they  who  have  the 
truth  ought  to  open  to  the  understanding  of  the  people,  what  is  that 
daily  cross,  and  what  that  self-denial  in  which  believers  follow  Christ, 
and  by  which  they  are  distinguished  from  all  the  world  ;  for  it  is  irre- 
sistibly true,  according  to  the  above,  and  such  like  sayings,  that  they 
who  deny  themselves  and  follow  Christ,  bearing  his  cross,  are  exclu- 
sively his  disciples. 

You  will  perhaps  say,  that  your  writings  are  not  on  this  subject, 
they  ought  not  therefore  to  be  expected  to  open  it.  But  in  treating 
on  the  doctrine  of  justification,  or  atonement,  it  is  as  preposterous  to 
leave  out  this,  which  Christ  makes  the  very  essence  of  religion,  as  for 
the  Scriptures  to  never  once  have  named  the  imputation  of  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ  to  believers,  if  that  were  the  efficient  cause  or 
ground  of  their  justification.     But, 

As  you  have  never  taken  the  true  ground  of  justification ;  conse- 
quently you  have  no  where  exhibited  in  your  writings  the  character 
of  a  real  Christian.  "  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit 
sin  ;  for  his  seed  remaineth  in  him  :  and  he  cannot  sin  because  he  is 
born  of  God.  In  this  the  children  of  God  are  manifest  and  the 
children  of  the  devil."  Dost  thou  not  remember  that,  ten  or  twelve 
years  ago,  a  number  of  you  acknowledged,  on  that  very  principle, 
that  ye  were  not  Christians  .''  What  has  become  of  that  matter  now  ? 
Would  such  an  open  acknowledgment  of  the  simple  truth  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  approach  too  near  to  the  Shakers  ?  But  let  truth  be  truth, 
lead  where  it  may — it  will  not  lead  from  God. 

It  is  indeed  not  to  be  expected  of  one  who  has  not  travelled  on  that 
ground,  to  describe  in  clear  colours,  without  a  scruple,  the  genuine 
character  of  a  Christian,  or  to  lay  open  the  way  to  come  to  that  mark. 
None,  abstractedly  from  the  faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing, 
can  direct  inquiring  souls  in  the  way  of  eternal  life.  Neither  can 
they  find  out  the  reason  of  their  incapability,  else  it  could  be  allevi- 
ated. The  instances,  occasional  or  numerous,  of  some  who  meet  with 
what  is  called  conversion,  under  such  ministrations,  are  no  proof  of 
their  having  the  true  Gospel,  but  the  contrary  for  if  they  had  it, 
they  could  teach  it  to  others  with  such  clearness  that  no  soul  who 
heard  them  would  fail,  through  ignoranCi||,  or  inability,  to  find  the 


treasure  of  salvation.   For  what  a  man  has,  ne  can  minister  to  others 


448  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

"  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give."  And  the  way  wMcli  a  man 
knows,  he  can  tell  to  another.  If  therefore  those  people  or  churches 
had  the  true  Gospel,  or  had  they  come  in  by  Christ  the  door,  they 
could  open  the  door  and  show  it  to  others  so  fully  that  there  would 
be  no  difficulty  on  that  ground  :  all  could  get  in  who  would,  on  the 
terms  of  forsaking  all  for  Christ.  For  all  true  ministers  of  Christ 
have  entered  in  at  the  door,  and  have  the  key  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  can  readily  open  to  those  who  come.  The  key  of  the 
kingdom  is  not  gold  nor  silver,  but  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  the 
way  of  salvation  through  him.  To  have  the  key  of  the  kingdom,  there- 
fore, is  to  have  the  understanding  of  the  Gospel.  If  Christ  is  the 
door,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  the  Church  the  house,  every 
member  of  the  Church  must  know  how  to  get  in  ;  and  those  members 
who  cannot  inform  those  who  would  come,  with  such  clearness,  that 
they  can  enter  without  uncertainty  or  doubt,  neither  know  what  Christ 
is,  nor  where  he  dwells.  This  however  is  not  intended  to  deny,  that 
many  people,  who  have  not  received  this  faith,  have  had  a  degree  of 
the  power  of  God,  more  or  less,  and  have  kept  it  as  long  and  as 
honestly  as  they  knew  how,  and  have  therein  been  accepted  of  God, 
and  kept  until  the  day  of  the  perfect  Gospel — "  Kept  by  the  power 
of  God,  through  faith  unto  salvation,  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last 
time."  And  with  these  it  has  often  occurred  that  the  same  degree 
of  faith  and  honesty  has  been  communicated  from  one  to  another, 
and  improved  with  great  zeal  and  fervent  labour,  to  great  extent, 
and  according  to  their  devotion  to  God  in  obedience,  accordingly  has 
been  their  prosperity  and  blessedness.  Here  is  something  more  than 
faith  alone  ;  and  yet  for  the  want  of  receiving  and  cultivating  the 
perfect  Gospel,  it  cannot  extend  beyond  a  very  limited  boundary,  nor 
keep  whereto  it  has  obtained.    Thus  all  such  revivals  run  through. 

It  would  appear  from  some  parts  of  your  Address,  that  you  utterly 
discard  the  idea  of  Christians  being  unwaveringly  established  in  the 
correctness  of  their  sentiments,  or  the  rectitude  of  their  faith.  But 
if  you  would  look  for  a  moment  where  the  charge  falls,  you  would 
probably  reflect  seriously  on  renouncing  your  present  views  on  that 
subject.  The  charge  of  uncertainty  must  fall,  not  on  human  imper- 
fection, or  fallibility,  which  is  exhibited  to  the  view  of  the  public  as 
unavoidable,  and  thus  becomes  the  protector  and  fosterer  of  uncer- 
tainty and  unrighteousness,  divisions  and  heresies — but  on  the  Gospel 
— but  on  Christ  the  author  of  it — but  on  God  who  sent  him.  Accor- 
dingly you  have  said:  "  Upon  the  rectitude  of  my  faith  and  practice 
my  eternal  interests  depend."  (Address,  p.  5.)  And  does  God  re- 
quire rectitude  of  you  with  such  exactness  that  your  eternal  interests 
depend  on  it,  in  matters  of  which  you  have  no  way  to  be  certain  .'' 
Does  it  surpass  the  power  and  promise  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son, 
who  both  dwell  with  the  true  believer,  to  ma,ke  him  certain,  infallibly 
certain,  of  the  rectitude  of  his  faith  and  practice  .''  Or  shall  I  reverse 
the  question  and  ask,  Is  it  consistent  with  the  truth  and  other  perfec- 
tions of  Deity,  to  leave  a  faithful,  honest  believer  (and  none  else  de- 
serves the  name  of  Christian)  in  any  uncertainty  about  the  rectitude 
of  the  way  in  which  he  walks,  or  his  faith  and  practice,  after  the  un- 
reserved promises  which  j^  has  made  ?  "  This  then  is  the  message 
which  we  have  heard  of  him,  and  declare  to  you,  that  God  is  light. 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  449 

and  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all.  If  we  say  that  we  have  fellowship 
with  him,  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie,  and  do  not  the  truth  :  but 
if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one 
with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sin."  (1  Jno.  i.  5,  6,  7.)  They  then  are  Christians,  and  none 
else,  who  walk  in  the  light  as  he  is  in  the  light.  "  I  am  the  light  of 
the  world ;  he  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life."  (Jno.  viii.  12.)  So  that  the  confidence  of  a 
Christian,  as  to  the  rectitude  of  his  sentiments,  or  more  properly  of 
his  faith  and  practice,  is  the  fruit  of  the  light,  the  truth  and  the  in- 
fallibility of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  not  of  any  perfection,  fallibility, 
or  infallibility  of  the  creature.  But  to  all  who  follow  Christ,  his  Spi- 
rit and  his  promise  confirm  them  in  infallible  certainty.  Every  man, 
therefore,  who  is  uncertain  whether  his  faith  and  practice  are  of  the 
true  faith  of  Christ,  is  in  possession  of  full  proof  that  they  are  not 
— that  he  is  not  a  Christian. 

Indeed,  it  is  no  far-fatched  inference  from  your  writings,  that  prac- 
tical Christianity,  or  union  with  Christ,  has  no  effect  or  influence  to- 
wards establishing  the  heart  in  a  good  thing  :  "  Being  well  convinced," 
you  say,  "  of  the  fallibility  of  mortals — seeing  the  fluctuations  of 
great  and  good  men  amongst  us  from  system  to  system,  and  then  re- 
verting to  the  relinquished  system — viewing  the  confidence  of  every 
sect  in  the  rectitude  of  their  doctrines,  and  all  believing  and  declaring 
they  are  honest — hearing  every  party  pronouncing  us  wrong,  and  join- 
ing their  general  voice  against  us — seeing  these  things  I  determined 
to  re-examine  my  views  of  the  "  Gospel."  (Address,  pp.  4,  5.)  I 
have  nothing  to  object  against  repeated  examinations  and  searchings 
after  truth,  until  it  is  found  to  full  satisfaction,  proving  all  things  and 
holding  fast  that  which  is  good.  But  surely  in  these  statements  you 
make  no  account  of  the  infallible  truth  of  the  Gospel,  (but  measure 
all  by  the  fallibility  of  mortals,)  nor  of  the  promise  of  Christ  to  his 
people,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  should  abide  with  them  for  ever,  and 
guide  them  into  all  truth.  "  And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he 
shall  give  you  another  comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  for 
EVER."  "  Howbeit  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  shall 
guide  you  into  all  truth'''' — "he  shall  teach  you  all  things." 
(Jno.  xiv.  16,  26,andxvi.  13.)  You  might  think  it  disingenuous, 
(and  I  do  not  desire  to  say  any  thing  disingenuous  or  unkind,)  to 
compare  you  and  your  yreat  and  good  men*  to  the  heathen  philoso- 
phers and  other  moralists,  ever  revolving  and  never  able  to  come  to 
a  permanent  standard,  or  to  those  silly  women  and  those  who  lead 
them  captive,  all  laden  with  sins,  and  led  away  of  divers  lusts,  ever 
learning  and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  (2 
Tim.  iii.  6,  7.)  But  wherein  do  ye  differ  from  them  ^  But  let  the 
truth  appear.  You  have  not  shifted  your  ground  so  overtly  as  some 
others  ;  you  have  affected  a  more  steady  perseverance  ;  but  you  ac- 
knowledge those  fluctuating,  unstable  spirits  as  brethren  and  as  Chris- 
tians, as  great  and  good  men,  and  more  than  implicitly  patronize  insta- 
bility in  the  Gospel. 

"  But,"  you  say,   "  great  and  good   men  have   differed."  (Ibid.) 
And  how  shall  we  prove  that  great  and  good  men  have  differed  in  the 
faith  and  practice  of  the  Gospel  i     By  the  same  rule  by  which  we 
30 


450  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

can  prove  tliat  tlie  Scriptures  are  a  lie,  wliicli  inform  ns,  that  witli 
qreat  and  good  men,  (if  sueh  are  Christians,)  at  least  in  the  true 
Church  of  Christ,  there  is  one  body,  [not  two  differing,]  and  one 
Spirit,  [not  two  differing,]  even  as  they  are  called  in  one  hope  of 
their  calling ;  one  Lord,  [not  two  competitors,]  one  faith,  [not  two 
in  opposition,]  one  baptism,  [not two,]  being  all  baptized  by  that  one 
Spirit  into  one  body,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all, 
and  through  all,  and  in  them  all.  (Eph.  iv.  4,  5,  6  ;  1  Cor.  xii.  13.) 
But  not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many 
noble  are  called.  (1  Cor.  i.  26.)  But  you  add,  "Therefore  from 
the  Bible  I  wish  to  draw  my  sentiments,  and  by  the  Bible  to  have 
them  judged."  (Ibid.)  The  same  source  from  which  these  great  and 
good  men  who  differ,  say  they  draw  theirs,  and  to  which  they  appeal 
as  the  judge  or  test  of  their  sentiments.  Therefore  the  Bible  is 
either  not  the  proper  guide  of  Christians,  (not  denying  its  usefulness 
in  the  hands  of  the  men  of  God,  in  subordination  to  the  true  guide, 
as  being  written  by  the  influence  of  the  same  Spirit,)  or  none  of  you 
who  thus  differ  among  yourselves  are  Christians  indeed.  And  indeed 
it  must  be  a  poor  guide,  when  great  and  good  men  cannot  agree  in 
the  purport  of  its  instructions. 

It  may  be  asked,  if  these  things  are  so,  how  are  we  to  know  who  are 
riffht,  seeing  all  are  so  confident :  I  answer  :  Find  what  the  true 
Church  is,  and  you  will  be  at  no  loss  to  know  where  it  is,  and  of  whom 
it  is  constituted.  The  knowledge  of  the  truth  is  not  to  be  obtained 
unless  in  that  Church,  or  issuing  from  it,  which  is  the  house  of  God, 
the  ground  and  pillar  of  the  truth.  The  law  goes  forth  of  Zion  and 
the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem.  But  to  bring  the  matter  nearer 
to  the  popular  understanding :  The  rule  of  Christ  is  always  good ; 
By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  professors  are  all  confident  of  the  rectitude  of  their  faith  and 
practice  ;  although  it  would  be  imputing  willful  error  to  any  people, 
to  suppose  they  do  not  believe  their  systematic  tenets  to  be  the  best 
they  know.  Yet  few,  very  few,  have  I  found  put  to  the  trial,  in  thirty 
years,  (for  about  that  long  I  have  been  observing  professors,)  who 
without  a  scruple,  will  assert  their  certainty  of  eternal  life  from  day  to 
day.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  ever  found  one  out  of  the  present  faith, 
(and  these  have  seldom  an  occasion,  their  faith  and  works  are  their 
witness,)  except  those  who  do  it  through  ambition.  Some  say  the 
Roman  Catholics  are  confident ;  and  they  are  alleged  as  a  proof, 
that  clear  confidence  is  not  the  attendant  of  the  true  Church,  or  at 
least  no  evidence.  I  doubt  not  but  they  assert  that  salvation  is  not 
known  out  of  the  Catholic  Church.  But  I  have  not  found  one,  nor 
heard  of  one  in  late  days,  asserting  that  he  or  the  other  members  are 
Christians  in  the  present  tense.  And  were  it  not  that  their  fruits  tes- 
tify too  plainly,  that  they  are,  at  least  in  part,  the  people  who  have 
the  form  and  deny  the  power,  they  have  in  many  respects  a  better 
claim  to  being  the  true  Church  than  any  who  have  separated  from 
them.  But  what  is  form  and  correct  sentiments  without  fruit  to  ho- 
liness }  Such  people  are  no  stumble  to  an  honest  man,  after  hearing 
what  the  truth  is. 

This  is  a  convenient  place  to  introduce  the  notice  of  another  error, 
which  is  eminently  marked,  not  only  throughout  your  writings,  but  in 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  451 

most,  if  not  all  the  denominations  of  the  Christian  world.  It  is  this :  That 
they  who  heard  the  Apostles  preach,  and  believed,  were  .then  born  of 
God,  and  Christians  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word.  This  opinion  is 
the  source  of  much  mischief.  For  men  read  in  the  Scriptures,  of  those 
people  who  were  called  by  the  Gospel,  among  whom  were  yet  many 
evil  things  ;  and  concluding  that  these  were  Christians,  it  is  an  easy 
inference,  that  people  in  these  days  may  be  Christians  also,  although 
corrupted  in  the  same  manner.  Whereas,  with  a  moderate  atten- 
tion to  the  Scriptures,  and  a  just  conception  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  learn,  that  when  they  believed  they  were  only  entering  into 
the  work  of  being  born  again,  to  the  effectuation  of  which  they  had 
to  attain  by  denying  self,  bearing  the  cross,  and  following  Christ  in  the 
regeneration.  They  then  took  on  them  the  yoke  or  cross  of  Christ, 
and  began  to  learn  of  him,  and  in  proportion,  to  find  rest  for  their 
souls  ;  and  were  supported  by  the  power  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
as  many  aswere  found  faithful,  which  protected  them, and  elevated  them 
above  all  opposition,  that  they  might  not  be  overcome,  but  according 
to  promise,  have  strength  equal  to  their  day,  in  that  time  of  heavy 
and  bloody  persecution.  As  many  therefore  as  were  simply  honest 
and  faithful,  although  they  had  not  arrived  to  that  stage  which  is  call- 
ed the  being  born  of  God,  in  which  there  is  complete  and  perpetual 
power  over  all  sin  in  nature  and  works,  were  owned  of  Christ  as  his  dis- 
ciples, and  were  properly  in  him  thus  far.  And  notwithstanding  that 
many  wrongs  and  improprieties  might  be  found  with  them,  while  as 
yet  their  corruptions  were  not  purged  out  in  a  perfect  obedience  to 
the  truth,  they  were  treated  in  forbearance,  with  suitable  admonitions 
and  reproofs,  until  by  time  and  experience  they  ceased  to  do  evil,  and 
learned  to  do  well ;  until  they  were  capable  of  becoming,  in  full  order, 
living  members  of  the  one  living  body. 

But  that  they  were  not  all  born  of  God  who  had  believed  and  were 
gathered  into  churches,  is  evident  from  many  considerations.  The 
apostle  James  has  written  the  main  part  of  his  epistle,  to  prove  to 
his  hearers  that  they  were  not  justified  Christians,  with  all  their  faith, 
because  they  had  not  works.  The  Galatians  to  whom  Paul  wrote, 
with  all  their  zeal  and  swift  running  in  the  beginning  of  their  faith, 
were  in  danger  of  returning  to  Judaism,  or  to  the  beggarly  elements 
of  the  world.  And  he  tells  the  Corinthians  in  plain  terms  that  they 
were  yet  carnal,  and  that  he  could  not  speak  to  them  as  to  spiritual, 
but  as  to  carnal.  Now  they  who  are  carnal  and  not  spiritual,  are  not 
born  of  the  Spirit— they  are  not  in  Christ  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word 
— they  are  not  new  creatures,  old  things  having  passed  away  and  all 
things  having  become  new,  and  all  things  of  God,  as  he  tells  those 
same  Corinthians  is  the  case  with  those  who  are  in  Christ ;  for  carnality 
is  not  of  God — they  are  under  the  power  of  death,  for  to  be  car- 
nally minded  is  death.  (Rom.  viii.  6.)  It  is  not  however  to  be  under- 
stood that  they  were  called  carnal  who  bore  a  faithful  cross  against  all 
carnality  from  the  beginning,  or  who  came  to  it  in  honest  simplicity. 
But  these  Corinthians  had  not  yet  arrived  to  that  simplicity.  They 
were  therefore  carnal  and  walked  as  men,  not  as  Christians.  (1  Cor^ 
iii.  1,  2,  3.) 

It  is  indeed  preposterous  enough  to  imagine  that  they  were  born  of 
God,  who  lived  in  such  divisions  and  other  disorders,  and  fell  so  far 


452  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

short  of  that  order  and  power  of  the  true  Church,  which  he  taught  to 
them  and  others ;  and  who  also  had  fornication  among  them  of  the 
most  aggravated  kind — that  one  should  have  his  father's  wife,  and 
that  publicly  known  ;  and  there  was  not  as  much  Christianity  among 
them  all,  as  could  exterminate  that  evil,  and  with  it  all,  they  were 
not  humbled,  but  puifed  up.  And  yet  in  our  days,  these  are  account- 
ed a  church  of  the  true  saints  of  God,  born  of  the  Spirit,  and  esteemed 
as  patterns  for  believers.  Notwithstanding  there  were  many,  and  per- 
haps some  even  at  Corinth,  who  bore  a  full  and  faithful  cross  against 
the  flesh  and  all  evil,  walking  in  the  simple  Spirit  of  the  Gospel,  who 
were  the  Church  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  in  that  day  ;  with 
whom  they  who  were  carnal  and  walked  as  men  could  not  keep  full  fel- 
lowship, but  were  the  outer  court,  or  worldly  sanctuary,  to  whom  the 
enemy  had  access,  to  keep  up  divisions  and  promote  the  practice  of 
living  after  the  flesh,  as  most  acceptable  to  human  nature,  to  the  ut- 
ter overthrow  of  genuine  Christianity  in  that  day.  Accordingly,  Anti- 
christ is  of  the  world,  but  went  out  from  the  Church,  that  is,  from 
among  the  faithful.  "  Little  children,  it  is  the  last  time :  and  as  ye 
have  heard  that  Antichrist  shall  come,  even  now  are  there  many  Anti- 
christs ;  whereby  we  know  that  it  is  the  last  time.  They  went  out 
from  us,  hut  they  were  not  of  us ;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they 
would  no  doubt  have  continued  with  us  :  but  they  went  out  that  they 
might  be  made  manifest  that  they  were  not  all  of  us."  "  They  are  of 
the  world,  therefore  speak  they  of  the  world,  and  the  world  heareth 
them."     (1  Jno.  ii.  18,  19,  and  iv.  5.) 

This  view  of  the  subject  shows  why  the  apostles  dealt  with  the 
people  as  they  did,  in  all  long  suffering  and  forbearance  ;  warning 
every  man,  and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom,  that  they  might 
present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus — that  if  by  any  means  they 
might  hold  all  those  who  believed,  or  as  many  as  possible,  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  Gospel,  until  they  should  gain  the  point  of  salvation, 
or  power  over  all  sin,  and  not  be  carried  away  with  the  spirit  of  the 
world,  which  is  Antichrist,  as  it  exists  in  professors.  Accordingly, 
they  were  reminded  of  that  to  which  they  were  called  by  the  Gospel ; 
"  To  put  off,  concerning  the  former  conversation,  the  old  man  which 
is  corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful  lusts,  and  to  be  renewed  in  the 
spirit  of  their  minds,  and  to  put  on  the  new  man  who  is  created  in  right- 
eousness and  true  holiness,  and  thus  to  become  new  in  all  respects. 

One  other  subject  I  must  notice  in  this  place.  It  becomes  neces- 
sary, according  to  the  testimony  of  the  denominations  who  have  not 
the  faith  that  Christ  has  come  the  second  time,  to  leave  their  present 
standing  and  receive  a  different  faith.  Their  testimony  is  that  the 
day  of  the  Lord  is  come  ;  and  with  many  of  them  it  is,  or  has  been, 
that  it  is  at  hand  ;  consequently,  they  are  not  in  it,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, if  they  desire  to  see  one  of  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man,  they 
cannot  see  it  without  a  change.  For  the  introduction  of  the  day  of 
the  Lord  must  produce  a  change  in  all  who  receive  him  ;  because  if 
they  had  the  same  faith  and  the  same  understanding  of  things  before 
as  after,  they  would  have  already  all  things  pertaining  to  that  day, 
hut  the  practice,  which  they  might  at  any  time  commence.  But  this 
they  know  is  not  the  case  ;  they  know  not  what  the  work  of  that  day 
is ;  for  of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man  before  its  commence- 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  453 

ment,  and  how  sliould  lie  perform  its  duties  ?  The  people  of  each  de- 
nomiuation  have  the  perfect  Gospel  and  power  of  salvation,  or  they 
have  not.  Those  who  have,  bring  forth  the  fruits  heretofore  stated 
in  different  places,  and  may  increase  on  the  same  ground  ;  and  those 
who  have  not,  are  subjected  to  the  indispensable  necessity  of  moving 
forward  to  perfection,  or  of  perishing  without.  For  God  will  finally 
accept  of  nothing  short  of  perfection  :  Be  ye  therefore  perfect  even 
as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect. 

The  alarming  apprehension,  therefore,  of  innovation,  which  systc- 
matics  and  formalists  so  much  dread,  and  against  which  they  watch 
with  so  much  assiduity,  is  an  insidious  usurper  of  the  throne  of  God, 
and  mo.  enemy  to  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  Without  such  innovation 
how  should  there  ever  be  any  recovery  from  tUe  darkness  of  any 
formal  or  Antichristian  religion  ?  But  it  is  conclusively  evident,  that 
they  who  testify  that  the  day  of  the  Lord,  or  latter  day  of  glory  is  at 
hand,  are  conscious  that  it  has  not  yet  come,  at  least  to  them.  Yet 
this  is  no  proof  that  they  are  not  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  their 
testimony.  God  sent  John  to  baptize  and  to  preach,  saying,  Repent 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.  Yet  John  was  not  then  in  it ; 
for  the  least  in  the  kingdom,  or  Gospel  Church,  was  greater  than  he. 
But  such  a  testimony  proves  that  those  who  bear  it  have  not  the  thing 
in  possession ;  according  therefore  to  their  own  testimony,  the  work 
in  which  they  stand  must  cease  and  give  place  to  that  which  is  greater. 
Thus  John  honestly  confessed  the  ground  on  which  he  stood  and  the 
nature  of  his  mission.  "  And  he  confessed,  and  denied  not ;  but 
confessed,  I  am  not  the  Christ."  "  He  must  increase  but  I  must  de- 
crease." (Jno.  i.  20,  and  iii.  30.)  Dost  thou  not  remember  the  time, 
when  on  a  certain  morning,  at  the  time  of  writing  The  last  Will  and 
Testament  of  the  Spring-field  Presbytery,  one  of  the  brethren,  being  in 
a  peculiar  operation  of  the  Spirit,  exclaimed,  in  thy  house.  Ho  !  this 
is  not  the  Christ !  It  is  only  John  the  Baptist !  relating  to  a  greater 
work  to  come.  For  though  Christ  was  then  amongst  us,  we  knew  him 
not  in  the  work  of  full  redemption. 

But  as  well  might  John  and  his  disciples  have  rejected  the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus,  and  have  said.  We  have  the  truth,  and  stand  in  the 
true  testimony  of  God,  (and  so  they  did,  for  it  was  true  as  far  as  it 
went,)  as  they  who  have  received  a  measure  of  light  from  God,  to  let 
them  know  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand,  and  that  God  is  about 
to  restore  the  pure  work  of  the  Gospel  on  the  earth,  can  maintain 
that  they  are  in  the  true  and  perfect  way.  They  may  plead  that  they 
have  evidently  had  the  power  of  God  among  them ;  but  that  is  no 
proof,  as  already  shown,  that  they  are  in  the  perfect  way,  or  have  that 
work  which  is  competent  to  salvation.  For  John  had  the  power  of 
God  with  him  ;  he  was  a  burning  and  shining  light,  but  he  was  not  the 
true  light :  he  was  sent  to  bear  witness  of  that  light.  Thus  after  the 
apostacy  had  had  its  day,  and  had  begun  to  verge  towards  a  close, 
God  raised  up  many  witnesses  in  the  spirit  of  the  apostles,  as  John 
had  once  come  in  the  spirit  of  Elias,  all  testifying  that  the  kingdom 
is  at  hand.  And  in  the  midst  of  this  testimony  the  kingdom  appear- 
ed. But  as  John  said.  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease,  so  has 
it  been  with  them  in  part,  and  still  continues  to  be. 

But  as  the  first  appearing  of  Christ  was  to  be  made  among  the 


454  FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS. 

Jews  only,  the  Gentiles  having  not  yet  been  invited  to  salvation,  one 
principal  forerunner  was  sufficient ;  whereas  the  second,  or  last  ap- 
pearing to  those  who  look  for  him,  being  to  include  the  face  of  the 
whole  earth,  it  becomes  necessary  that  a  testimony  of  the  same  kind 
be  sent  forward  from  time  to  time,  and  in  divers  places,  to  prepare 
the  way  of  the  Lord — to  wake  the  people  up  to  some  care  and  feel- 
ing after  salvation,  that  they  may  be  in  expectation  of  the  coming  of 
the  Lord.  But  as  with  the  testimony  of  John,  so  with  that  of  all  the 
rest.  It  accomplished  the  work  which  it  was  sent  to  do,  and  in  a 
while  ceased ;  and  those  who  would  not  receive  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
perished,  their  standing  for  a  time  in  the  light  and  truth  of  God,  sent 
by  John,  notwithstanding.  So  it  is  with  all  the  subjects  of  the  prepara- 
tory work  of  God  in  this  day  of  Christ  which  has  now  opened  ;  all  those 
who  reject  the  testimony  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  soon  lose 
their  power,  and  become  formal  and  earthly,  scatter  and  divide,  and 
show  in  all  respects,  that  notwithstanding  they  have  had  a  day  of  the 
mighty  power  of  God,  they  have  finished  their  work  and  done  all  they 
can  do  on  that  ground  ;  and  that  if  ever  the  subjects  of  that  day  of 
power  would  find  salvation,  it  behoves  them  to  leave  the  ground 
whereon  they  stand,  and  advance  into  the  perfect  work  ;  like  John,  to 
decrease,  and  be  superseded  by  that  kingdom  which  is  superior,  per- 
fect and  everlasting. 

An  urgent  argument  among  the  people  some  years  ago  was.  Stay 
where  you  are  and  get  more — stay  where  you  are  and  get  more  ;  as 
if  more  could  be  had  without  advancing.  I  stayed  there  until  I  had 
gotten  all  I  could  get,  or  saw  any  prospect  of  getting,  and  have  never 
seen  any  one  gain  any  thing  by  staying  there  past  the  time.  Such 
was  the  language  of  the  Jews  as  if  they  had  said :  Stay  where  you 
are  ;  go  not  after  this  innovator.  We  know  that  God  spake  to  Mo- 
ses ;  but  as  for  this  fellow,  we  know  not  whence  he  is.  True  enough, 
God  spake  to  Moses,  and  by  Moses  taught  that  another  should  su- 
persede him  :  "  A  prophet  shall  the  Lord  your  God  raise  up  unto 
you  of  your  brethren,  like  unto  me  ;  him  shall  ye  hear."  (Acts  vii. 
37.)  So  might  the  disciples  of  John  have  said:  We  know  that  God 
sent  John,  let  us  hold  fast  to  him.  True,  God  sent  John,  and  by  him 
taught  that  a  gi-eater  than  he  should  come  after  him,  to  whom  he  must 
yield.  So  may  the  society  of  Friends  say.  Let  us  stay  where  we  are. 
We  know  that  God  spake  by  Fox,  but  as  for  this  Anna  Lee,  or  her 
followers  we  know  not  whence  they  are.  True  enough,  God 
spake  by  Fox,  and  by  Fox  taught  that  the  kingdom  was  at  hand  ;  of 
course  that  he  had  it  not,  and  therefore  must  be  superseded.  Accord- 
ingly this  testimony  of  Fox,  having  done  its  work,  ceased — the  Friends 
have  not  their  former  power.  So  may  the  Methodists  say.  Let  us 
stay  where  we  are.  We  know  that  God  spake  by  John  Wesley;  but 
as  for  these  Shakers,  we  know  not  whence  they  are.  True,  God 
spake  by  Wesley,  and  by  Wesley  foretold,  or  signified,  a  greater  and 
deeper  work  than  was  in  his  days,  or  ever  had  been ;  for  which  he 
was  no  doubt  sent  to  prepare  the  way,  but  not  to  build  it  up.  It  there- 
fore behoves  them  also,  if  they  would  be  saved,  to  be  superseded. 
For  it  is  manifest  they  have  not  the  kingdom  ;  their  day  of  power  is 
too  tinstable  and  fleeting.  So  may  the  people  of  the  late  revival  say, 
Let  us  stay  where  we  are  and  get  more.     We  know  that  God  spake 


FAMILIAR    OBSERVATIONS.  455 

by  his  Spirit  in  tlie  revival,  and  is  not  that  enough  ?  but  as  for  those 
who  tell  us  that  Christ  has  come  the  second  time,  we  know  not  what 
to  make  of  them,  we  do  not  see  him.  True,  God  spake  by  his  Spirit 
in  the  revival,  and  by  that  Spirit  he  said.  That  his  everlasting  king- 
dom was  at  hand  ;  and  also.  That  that  revival  would  never  cease  un- 
til the  latter  day  of  glory  should  commence.  -  But  the  revival  is  gone. 
The  people  who  were  the  subjects  of  it,  have  no  more  the  Spirit  and 
power  which  they  once  had,  as  many  as  have  rejected  the  testimony  of 
Christ  in  his  second  appearing  :  little  if  any  is  among  them  all.  Now 
that  revival  was  either  false  and  no  work  of  God,  (for  it  could  not  be 
a  true  work  and  its  testimony  false,  because  a  good  tree  cannot  bring 
forth  evil  fruit,)  or  the  work  which  entered  at  the  latter  part  of  it,  and 
which  claims  the  character  of  the  everlasting  kingdom,  is  true.  But  the 
revival  carried  such  convincing  marks  of  the  work  of  God,  that  almost 
all  who  believe  in  Christianity  as  being  the  living  work  of  God,  claim^ 
the  honour  of  acknowledging  the  revival  ;  even  those  who  have  turned 
away  from  it,  to  escape  the  cross  which  was  found  in  the  fulfillment  of 
its  testimony.  Its  testimony,  therefore,  that  the  latter  day  of  glory 
would  be  introduced  before  it  closed  is  also  true. 

This  work  differs  from  all  those  who  have  preceded  as  forerunners  ; 
in  this  amongst  other  things.  That  whereas  they  have  testified  that  the 
kingdom  is  to  come,  and  therefore,  according  to  their  own  testimony, 
must  cease  and  give  place  to  it,  on  its  appearing  ;  the  present  work 
testifies,  that  the  kingdom  has  commenced,  and  that  this  is  it ;  and 
therefore  according  to  its  testimony,  seconded  by  others,  ought  to 
stand  forever.  Accordingly  it  has  outlived  all  those  revivals  and  tes- 
timonies which  have  preceded  and  testified  of  it ;  for  though  they 
keep  some  form  or  shadow,  they  lose  the  power.  And  this  is  not  all ; 
God  will  yet  send  the  same  spirit  of  Elias,  or  rather  of  the  apostles,  to 
wake  up  the  people,  and  make  farther  preparation  for  the  work  and 
testimony  of  the  everlasting  kingdom,  which  has  entered  on  the  earth 
for  the  salvation  of  souls.  "  But  now  he  hath  promised,  saying.  Yet 
once  more  I  shake  not  the  earth  only,  but  also  heaven.  And  this 
word.  Yet  once  more,  signifieth  the  removing  of  those  things  that  are 
shaken,  as  of  things  that  are  made,  that  those  things  which  cannot  be 
shaken  may  remain."  The  day  is  come,  and  God  has  begun  to  re- 
move the  things  which  may  be  shaken,  as  things  which  are  made  by 
the  contrivance  and  wisdom  of  men,  that  the  work  of  the  kingdom, 
which  shakes  all  things  and  cannot  itself  be  shaken,  may  remain. 
"  Wherefore  we,  receiving  a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved,  let 
us  have  grace  whereby  we  may  serve  God  acceptably,  with  rever- 
ence and  Godly  fear,  for  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire."  (Heb.  xii. 
26-29.) 


456  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 


SECTION     IV. 

FARTHER  OBSERVATIONS  AND  CORRECTIONS,  TOGETHER  WITH  SUNDRY 
MATTERS  PERTAINING-  TO  THE  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST  IN  HIS  EVER- 
LASTING KINGDOM. 

Barton  : — I  now  come  to  consider  those  parts  of  your  writings,  which 
immediately  respect  the  faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  or  the 
faith  of  the  people  called  Shakers.  And  on  your  own  principles,  you 
cannot  count  it  ungenerous,  if  I  point  out  some  of  the  same  evils  in 
you,  of  which  you  so  heavily  complain  in  others,  and  require  you  to 
prove  by  the  Scriptures,  that  our  tenets  are  wrong,  before  you  con- 
•demn  them  and  reproach  us  as  the  degenerate  sons  of  the  Pope  of 
Rome.  We  are,  it  is  true,  charged  with  claiming  infallibility,  because 
we  maintain,  (as  the  only  pretext  for  such  allegation  with  which  I  am 
acquainted,)  that  God  has  opened  and  confirmed  in  Christ,  the  everlast- 
ing Gospel,  which  is  his  perfect  work,  and  infallibly  saves  from  sin 
and  ruin  all  who  keep  it,  and  that  in  keeping  this  Gospel  we  are  saved 
from  sin  and  all  criminal  or  dangerous  error,  and  that  God  has  made 
this  Gospel  known  to  us,  for  the  use  of  all  men  who  are  willing  to  be 
saved.  If  maintaining  this  Gospel  be  to  claim  infallibility,  we  shall  not 
repel  the  charge.  We  will  bear  the  censures  of  men,  rather  than  deny 
the  work  of  God. 

You  complain  of  a  flood  of  opposition  poured  forth  against  you,  and 
yet  pouring.  And  if  you  bore  it  in  the  simple  defence  of  the  truth, 
without  endeavouring  to  check  it  in  yourself,  or  to  disguise  and 
pervert  it  in  others,  I  would  compassionate  your  distress  ;  but  as  you 
do  the  same  things  of  which  you  complain,  your  calamity  is  not  so  pi- 
tiable. I  intend  therefore  to  deal  freely  with  your  publications,  on  those 
points  which  I  shall  notice  in  them,  and  with  yourself,  as  a  professed 
Christian,  even  as  freely  as  you  did  with  another,  not  without  reason, 
when  you  said,  "  Heaven  knows  you  are  wrong."  I  deal  thus  freely, 
purely  for  the  sake  of  uncovering  the  truth,  in  those  matters  which 
ought  to  be  known,  for  the  information  of  those  who  seek  the  truth, 
and  not  instigated,  from  the  beginning,  with  any  sanguine  expectations 
that  it  would  be  of  any  benefit  to  you,  or  to  many  of  your  present  adhe- 
rents. For,  as  it  is  written,  "  Israel  hath  not  obtained  that  which  he 
seeketh  for  ;  but  the  election  hath  obtained  it,  and  the  rest  were  blinded 
to  this  day  ;"  so  the  people  in  the  revival  have  not  obtained  that  king- 
dom which  they  expected,  but  the  election  has  obtained  it,  and  the 
rest  were  blinded  to  this  day.  Yet  it  is  not  wrong  to  provoke  them 
to  jealousy,  that  if  by  any  means  we  might  save  some  of  them. 

You  say  you  have  no  interest  in  being  wrong.  (Address,  p.  5.)  But 
if  you  have  no  interest  in  being  wrong,  we  more  so.  We  know  godli- 
ness has  promise  of  this  life,  as  well  as  that  which  is  to  come  ;  but  we 
do  not  know,  that  it  indulges  in  fleshly  lusts  and  gratifications,  lawful  or 
unlawful,  the  rejecting  of  which  is  the  cause  of  our  heaviest  oppositions, 
and  the  central  barrier  in  the  way  of  general  approbation.  But  if  we  are 
right,  you  have  an  interest  in  being  wrong — an  interest  for  which  many 
have  laboured  hard  at  the  expense  of  being  wrong  and  missing  the  point 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OP    CHRIST.  457 

on  which  their  eternal  interests  depend — an  interest,  for  which  every 
man  and  woman  on  earth  would  forego  every  other  inheritance,  until 
eternal  things  become  the  most  important  with  them — an  interest,  which 
is  the  life  of  every  man  in  nature —  this  interest  is,  to  escape  the  cross 
of  Christ  and  save  the  life  ;  "  For  whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall 
lose  it,  and  he  that  will  lose  his  life  shall  find  it."  If  you  have  no 
interest  in  being  wrong,  you  must  reasonably  conclude,  that  others 
have  as  little,  especially  those  who  sacrifice  more  than  you  for  the 
sake  of  being  right.  You  have  not  sacrificed  all  for  Christ.  You 
have  reserved  the  most  precious  of  your  idols.  Ananias-like  you  held 
back  part  of  the  price  with  this  pretext,  that  Christ  does  not  require 
that  part — that  which  is  more  dear  to  you  than  life — more  precious 
than  Christ.  Was  it  not  in  opposition  to  the  testimony  of  God  borne 
to  you  by  his  witnesses,  that  you  told  with  your  own  mouth,  that  you 
felt  a  disposition  to  blaspheme  God  ?  It  wrought  in  me,  said  one,  all 
manner  of  concupiscence.  Was  it  not  through  opposition  to  the  same 
testimony,  and  your  grief  at  finding  some  of  the  people  likely  to  bear 
their  cross,  that  you  spat  blood  a  considerable  part  of  one  night,  or  per- 
haps more  ?  And  thus,  while  some  are  called,  and  obey  the  call,  to 
resist  to  blood  striving  against  sin,  did  you  not  resist  to  blood  striving 
for  the  life  of  an  idol  ?  And  have  you  no  interest  in  being  wrong  ?  If 
we  are  right,  we  presume  you  have.  And  none  have  yet  been  able  to 
show  us  that  we  are  wrong,  in  not  reserving  that  most  precious  jewel, 
when  we  make  our  surrender  to  Christ.  For  it  is  poor  reasoning  to  us 
that  you  believe  we  are  the  people,  "  who  creep  into  houses  and  lead 
captive  silly  women  laden  with  sins,  led  away  of  divers  lusts,  ever 
learning  and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  because 
we  reject,  in  word  and  works,  every  sin,  and  every  fleshly  lust,  lawful 
and  unlawful,  and  remain  abidingly  established  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  Our  logic  tells  us,  that  such  Scriptures  better  apply  to  those 
who  live  after  the  course  of  the  world  and  are  always  more  or  less  in 
uncertainty,  or  changing  from  system  to  system  and  then  reverting  to 
the  relinquished  system. 

After  complaining  of  the  flood  of  opposition  which  you  have  had  to 
meet,  you  add  :  "  We  are  not  to  be  driven  from  our  sentiments  by  bare 
assertions  or  ill-natured  scurrility — heretical*  names,  or  pathetic  lamen- 
tations. These  substitutes  for  argument  have  been  frequently  tried  ; 
but  to  me  and  many  others  in  vain."  (Address  p.  1.)  In  the  last  of 
your  reply  to  Campbell  you  say  :  "  Let  us,  after  this,  ever  keep  in  mind 
that  memorable  description  of  a  citizen  of  Zion.  (Psa.  xv.)  "  He  back- 
biteth  not  with  his  tongue,  nor  doth  evil  to  his  neighbour,  nor  taketh  up 
a  reproach  against  his  neighbour."  "  People,"  you  continue,  "  in  these 
days  are  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  Jeremiah  ;  they  hated  Jeremiah,  and 
wanted  to  blast  his  reputation.  Report,  say  they,  and  we  will  report." 
Let  us  not  take  up  ungrounded  reports  any  longer.  After  this,  and  any 
longer — after  the  preceding  paragraph,  in  which  the  most  ungrounded  re- 
ports which  heaven  ever  witnessed  from  a  malignant  heart  are  liberally 
poured  forth  against  an  innocent  people  who  have  forsaken  all  for  Christ 
— who  have  given  up  more  than  you  have  done  to  be  right,  and  therefore 
if  possible  have  less  interest  in  being  wrong — a  people  who  never  inter- 
rupted you,  or  any  of  your  adherents,  or  any  other  people,  in  any  sense, 
except  by  urging  on  them  the  necessity  of  salvation,  and  claiming  the 


458  ON    THE    REVELATION    OP    CHRIST. 

privilege  to  freely  minister  the  Gospel,  publicly  and  from  house  to  house, 
to  all  who  would  hear  it — a  people  against  whoin  all  manner  of  evil  is 
spoken  falsely  for  His  name's  sake  whose  reproach  they  bear  and  who 
once  bore  for  us  the  reproaches  with  which  they  reproached  God — a 
people  against  whom  you  can  support  no  charge  except  what  is  includ- 
ed in  pursuing  the  light  of  the  revival  to  the  end,  that  is,  to  the  intro- 
duction of  the  everlasting  kingdom ;  as  things  appeared  according  to 
our  understanding  as  well  as  that  of  many  who  are  not  willing  to  lose 
all  for  Christ,  and  which  could  not  be  very  far  from  your  own  under- 
standing, if  you  spoke  the  sentiments  of  your  heart,  of  which  I  have  no 
doubt,  when  you  said  your  preaching  had  just  prepared  the  way  for  the 
Shakers  :  and  in  that  you  were  not  alone. 

But  you  state  that  there  has  been  a  "  lamentable  departure  of  two 
of  our  preachers,  and  a  few  of  their  hearers,  from  the  true  Gospel 
into  wild  enthusiasm.  They  have,"  say  you,  "  made  shipwreck  of 
faith,  and  turned  aside  to  an.  old  woman's  fables,  who  broached  them 
in  New  England  about  twenty-five  years  ago.  While  we  weep  for  them 
many  rejoice,  and  hope  and  expect  this  will  be  the  end  of  us  all." 
But  what  is  this  wild  enthusiasm  }  That  with  which  you  were  more 
completely  swallowed  up  than  any  thing  you  ever  heard,  until  you  found 
the  people  in  the  kingdom  did  not  marry  .''  That  kingdom  for  which 
you  were  then  looking  and  which  you  said  had  already  begun .''  That 
Millennium  which,  when  one  of  your  brethren  asked  you  to  help  him 
out,  that  he  saw  there  was  some  devil  about  marriage,  you  said  was 
just  at  hand,  and  then  there  would  be  none  of  these  things  ^  For  did 
you  not  preach  boldly  that  Christ  had  already  come  and  was  in  his 
people  .''  And  did  you  not  say  once  and  again,  that  if  any  man  wants 
to  see  Christ,  let  him  look  at  a  Christian,  and  he  will  see  him  }  and 
that  Christ  would  never  be  seen  any  other  way  in  the  judgment  of  this 
world  }  But  what  are  these  old  woman's  fables  .''  These  :  That  no 
unclean  thing  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven — that  if  any  man 
will  be  a  disciple  of  Christ  indeed,  he  must  deny  himself,  and  bear 
his  cross  daily,  and  come  after  Christ — that  the  true  Gospel  teaches 
us,  that  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts  we  should  live  soberly, 
righteously  and  godly  in  this  present  world — that  if  we  confess  our 
sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from 
all  unrighteousness.  These  and  such  like  being  the  fables  of  that  wo- 
man, young  or  old,  bear  witness  that  she  was  a  heavenly-minded  woman, 
that  she  was  indeed  a  lovely  Mother  in  Israel,  and  an  heiress  of  glory — 
quite  likely  to  be  the  one  who  the  people  with  her  say  she  was — the 
woman  whom  God  has  chosen  to  reveal  Christ  the  second  time  to  those 
who  were  looking  for  him. 

"  But,"  you  continue,  "  we  find  that  nothing  new  has  happened 
under  the  sun.  *  *  *  Of  the  twelve  who  followed  Christ,  one  proved  a 
devil,  and  another  denied  him,  and  all  the  rest  forsook  him  ;  but  all 
repented,  except  Judas.  This  may  yet  be  the  case  with  our  deluded 
brethren.  In  Paul's  day,  Hymeneus  and  Alexander,  Hermogenes  and 
Philetus,  and  all  them  of  Asia,  made  shipwreck  of  faith.  If  it  is  an 
argument  that  we  are  wrong,  because  two  of  our  preachers  have  re- 
volted from  the  truth — the  argument  is  equally  strong  against  the  truth 
of  the  Christian  religion,  because  many  of  its  professors  in  every  age 
have  done  the  same.  *  *  It  is  rather  in  our  favour  that  we  are  right. 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  459 

because  wolves  always  go  among  the  sheep  for  prey.  These  wolves, 
in  sheep's  clothing,  have  smelt  us  from  far,  and  have  come  to  tear, 
rend  and  devour."  Thus  you  have  condemned  without  hearing  and 
knowing  what  we  do,  and  hated  without  cause,  as  the  enemies  of  Christ 
always  do  ;  have  used  bare  assertions^  scurrility^  and  heretical  names, 
without  argument,  just  as  preposterously  as  you  complain  that  others 
do  with  you.  Have  you  ever  shown  to  us  or  to  the  world,  in  this  public 
manner,  what  proof  we  carry  of  being  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing.'' 
Have  you  told  them  or  us,  what  is  the  sheep's  clothing,  whether  a  fair 
profession  or  a  righteous  life  .''  O  Barton  !  O  Barton  !  when  will  you 
be  as  liberal  to  others  as  you  ask  them  to  be  to  you .''  Whether  is  this 
paragraph  of  yours  reasoning  or  scurrility .?  If  we  as  a  people  are 
wolves  in  sheep's  clothing,  why  do  you  not  show  us  and  the  world 
wherein,  and  not  be  daubing  about  your  heretical  names  and  pathetic 
lamentations,  without  offering  the  shadow  or  pretence  of  a  reason  }  All 
which  you  have  yet  to  lift  at  your  own  expense.  But  what  do  these 
tear,  rend  and  devour .?  Have  they,  now  in  ten  years,  spoken  a  word 
against  any  thing  but  the  flesh  and  its  lusts,  or  all  sin  .''  Or  have  they 
ever  usurped  or  asked  any  power,  except  the  power  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  person's  own  faith,  to  persuade  any  man  or  woman  to  believe  as 
they  do  }  And  do  not  you  publish  your  faith  in  the  most  forcible  and 
engaging  manner  you  can  .''  But  these  Shakers  have  disturbed  and 
even  broken  up  some  congregations,  they  must  therefore  be  wolves. 
And  have  not  you  and  your  brethren  disturbed  or  even  broken  up  some 
congregations  of  other  professors,  often  divided  them,  and  swept,  not 
a  few,  but  many  of  the  people,  and  caused  them  to  be  rejected  as 
heretics,  as  you  reject  us  .?  Are  ye  not  therefore  wolves  in  sheep's 
clothing.?  But  these  Shakers,  according  to  some,  are  the  best  calcu- 
lated to  deceive  of  all  people — they  make  the  fairest  appearance  and 
look  the  most  like  Christians — they  can  tell  a  man  all  his  experience 
in  religion,  and  a  great  deal  more,  (didst  thou  not  talk  this  way .'') 
they  must  therefore  be  deceivers,  or  wolves.  But  if  the  best  appear- 
ance, the  most  righteous  life  and  deepest  knowledge  in  religion,  be 
the  sure  marks  of  wolves,  what  are  the  true  marks  of  the  sheep  .''  Are 
they  in  ignorance  of  God,  a  carnal  life  and  ungodly  deportment,  or 
wearing  a  wolf-skin  and  appearing  just  like  the  rest  of  the  world,  with- 
out knowing  who  is  a  Christian  and  who  is  not .''  Let  reasonable  men 
consider.  But  these  Shakers,  according  to  some,  have  devoured  and 
broken  up  many  families.  Yea,  true  enough  ;  by  preaching  and  pro- 
pagating the  spirit  of  faith  and  unity,  in  Christ,  many  families  have 
united  together  for  the  salvation  of  all,  in  the  joint  work  of  the  Lord, 
as  it  is  written  :  "  They  shall  flow  together  to  the  goodness  of  the 
Lord."  And  again  :  "  And  the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were 
of  one  heart  and  one  soul ;  neither  said  any  of  them  that  aught  of  the 
things  which  he  possessed  was  his  own  ;  but  they  had  all  things  com- 
mon ;"  (Acts  iv.  32;)  where  the  rich  and  the  poor  feed  in  common 
bounty  and  good-will,  and  all  other  families,  or  as  many  as  choose,  are 
invited  to  partake  of  the  same  bounty  on  the  same  principles — ^just  to 
confess  and  forsake  all  sin.  Perhaps  you  may  remember  your  reply 
to  an  opposer  of  the  work  of  God,  in  the  revival,  when  he  said  it  was 
of  the  devil:  "J.  good  devil;  I  should  love  to  have  fellowship  loith 
him."     These  are  good  wolves ;  I  should  love  to  be  devoured  by  them. 


460  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

But  I  look  on  this  last  page  of  your  reply,  and  wonder,  if  you  were 
so  far  lost  to  all  sensibility  and  reason,  as  to  suppose  that  the  treach- 
ery of  Judas  for  money,  the  forsaking  of  the  disciples  and  the  denial 
of  Peter  through  fear,  and  departure  of  Hymeneus  and  Alexander, 
of  Hermogenes  and  Philetus  and  them  of  Asia,  who  forsook  Paul 
to  escape  the  persecution  and  the  cross,  and  thus  made  shipwreck  of 
the  faith,  bore  any  resemblance  to  our  case,  who  received  and  kept 
the  faith  of  Christ,  which  involves  tenfold  more  opposition  than  we 
had  to  meet  before  as  well  as  an  infinitely  .greater  cross  to  human 
nature.  It  is  true,  similes  prove  nothing.  But  a  man  who  uses  them 
to  gain  illustration  or  energy  to  his  statements,  ought  to  see  that  they 
are  apt.  The  introduction  of  the  above  characters  proves  nothing  ; 
universal  logic  forbids  it.  It  gives  no  illustration  ;  becavise  there  is 
not  the  smallest  likeness  between  the  two  cases.  It  can  only  therefore 
be  a  disingenuous  burlesque — mere  scurrility.  It  is  a  pity  a  man  of 
your  light  and  reason  should  descend  to  such  measures.  But  you  had 
no  better  weapons.  But  perhaps  you  thought  you  saw  great  likeness 
to  us  in  Hymeneus  the  friend  of  marriage,  and  Philetus  the  carnal 
lover,  because  they  taught  that  the  resurrection  was  already  past,  or 
perfected  ;  consequently,  that  there  needed  to  be  no  difficulty  in  using 
the  bodies  they  then  had  in  marriage  and  the  indulgence  of  sexual  love ; 
while  we  teach,  near  two  thousand  years  afterwards,  that  the  resurrec- 
tion is  not  past  yet ;  that  it  is  a  fountain  of  deep  waters  through 
which  no  man  can  pass,  and  that  in  the  resurrection  they  neither  mar- 
ry nor  are  given  in  marriage,  and  therefore,  that  all  who  come  into  it 
give  up  marriage  and  carnal  love  forever.  The  judicious  may  discern 
how  much  resemblance  there  is  in  the  two  cases. 

"  But  God,"  say  you,  "  has  lifted  up  a  standard  against  them  ;" 
(Ibid.)  that  is,  against  the  Shakers.  And  what  is  it .?  This  kind  of 
opposition  which  you  justly  reprobate,  as  being  ineffectual  with  you 
and  others  .''  Or  is  it  the  preaching  of  you  and  your  brethren  .''  one 
of  whom  would  not  thoroughly  perform  a  candid,  open  conversation 
with  one  of  our  preachers,  on  the  faith  of  Christ,  for  all  his  religion, 
because  it  would  surely  cost  that  and  more  in  the  end.  Therefore,  as 
in  your  words,  they  fly  from  us  as  from  the  face  of  a  serpent.  But  why 
should  any  man  who  knows  the  truth  and  walks  in  it,  be  afraid  of  be- 
ing charmed  by  the  serpent .'  It  is  a  proof  that  such  people  are  not 
right.  But  what  has  this  standard  done,  which  God  has  lifted  up  .? 
The  people  of  the  revival  have  not  been  able  to  stand  by  its  protec- 
tion ;  they  are  scattered,  like  the  Jews,  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven, 
and  have  no  more  the  power  which  they  once  had  ;  whilst  the  Shakers, 
in  possession  of  that  Gospel  which  shakes  all  and  can  be  shaken  of 
none,  are  abundantly  more  numerous  than  when  those  things  were 
written,  as  well  as  much  more  like  the  Jerusalem  of  God,  compactly 
built  together.    But, 

No  doubt  you  have  also  increased  in  numbers  ;  and  would  to  God 
ye  were  tenfold  as  many  as  ye  are,  and  all  in  the  genuine  spirit  of  the 
revival.  I  am  not  going  to  count  on  numbers  to  confirm  the  faith,  or 
on  any  thing  else  which  is  according  to  the  honour  and  glory  of  this 
world.  But  I  mention  these  things  as  a  visible  sign  that  God  has  not 
lifted  up  a  standard  against  us.  I  desire  that  they  who  are  willing  to 
see,  may  see  things  as  they  are,  and  know,  as  the  people  are  learning 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  461 

more  and  more,  that  no  religion  whicli  comes  in  opposition,  is  able  to 
stand  against  the  sharp  two-edged  swor^  which  is  put  into  our  hand 
and  goes  out  of  our  mouth  ;  that  is,  the  Gospel.  There  are  two 
methods  now  in  practice  to  keep  from  visibly  falling  before  it :  the 
one  is  not  to  come  into  contact,  or  to  avoid  all  free  conversation,  and 
the  other  to  determine  not  to  submit,  true  or  false  :  and  the  way  of 
God,  the  nature  of  the  Gospel,  is  not  to  force  but  to  invite.  But  I 
have  no  feeling  to  contest  the  ground  with  you  in  respect  of  credit  in 
the  world.  I  should  there  have  no  prospect  in  respect  to  faith.  For 
though  it  will  be  found  true,  that  the  present  work  of  God  will  carry 
the  palm  in  every  thing  which  is  truly  worthy  of  a  rational  man,  so 
that  it  will  be  true  as  it  is  written  :  "  When  a  man's  ways  please  the 
Lord,  he  maketh  even  his  enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  him  ;"  (Prov. 
xvi.  7 ;)  yet  the  faith  and  cross  of  Christ  will  always  be  hateful  to 
the  world,  while  such  a  world  exists.  For  our  faith  is  not  of  the 
world,  therefore  the  world  hates  it.  But  your  faith  it  cannot  hate, 
farther  than  as  it  coincides  with  ours.  As  far  as  it  is  different  from 
our  faith,  people  will  generally  bear  with  you  ;  for  in  it  you  have  no 
death,  no  cross  against  the  old  man.  It  is  true,  you  have  spoken  of 
self-denial  in  a  Christian.  (Reply,  p.  66.)  But  what  do  ye  deny  ? 
Not  self ;  not  the  old  man  with  his  deeds  ;  for  ye  live  after  the  course 
of  the  world,  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  as  the  rest  of  the 
world  ;  your  bodies  are  not  dead  because  of  sin  ;  they  do  the  appro- 
priate works  of  the  first  Adam,  and  bring  forth  the  appropriate  fruits 
of  the  world  ;  ye  partake  of  the  honours  and  friendship  of  the  world 
like  the  rest.  Your  people  fill  posts  of  honour  and  profit,  civil  and 
military,  and  are  therefore  of  the  very  members  of  the  world.  Your 
brother.  Elder  David  Purviance,  seems  to  have  had  no  scruple  of  con- 
science for  years,  against  filling  a  place  in  the  State  Legislature,  since 
he  has  lived  in  a  State  whose  constitution  admits  preachers  to  the 
House  of  Assembly  ;  although  some  years  ago,  when  in  the  spirit  of 
the  revival,  he  rejected  that  seat,  if  I  am  not  misinformed,  as  not  be- 
ing the  place  of  a  Christian.  He  must  therefore  be  of  the  world, 
and  the  world  love  him,  or  they  would  not  appoint  him  to  make  their 
laws.  Where  then  is  your  cross  against  the  old  man  ?  Your  re- 
ligion is  accommodated  just  to  his  wishes.  You  may  talk,  Calvinist- 
like,  of  Christ  bearing  the  cross  for  you.  But  without  sparing  Cal- 
vinist  or  anti-Calvinist,  Jesus  talks  of  every  one  bearing  his  own 
cross,  and  that  daily,  and  coming  after  him,  otherwise  he  cannot  be 
his  disciple.  You  may  talk  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  or  self-denial, 
in  the  spirit.  But  who  will  believe  that  a  man  denies  himself,  or  fol- 
lows Christ  in  the  spirit,  and  the  world  in  his  works  .''  Not  one  who 
knows  the  Gospel.  On  the  whole  it  is  evident,  that  they  who  partici- 
pate in  these  things  which  are  of  the  world,  bear  no  real  cross  against 
the  old  man. 

Those  things  which  have  been  written  so  long  ago,  I  suppose  I 
should  not  have  noticed  now,  had  it  not  been,  that  in  your  last  publi- 
cation you  have  shown  the  same  ungenerous  opposition  and  the  most 
disingenuous  misrepresentation,  by  which  you  show  that  your  former 
enmity  against  the  faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing  remains 
entire.  And  it  is  not  necessary  that  your  unprovoked  slanders  should 
remain  unnoticed.     You  have  misrepresented  us  with  the  pretext  of 


462  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

defending  yourself — this  is  uncandid,  and  to  the  prejudice  of  truth, 
be  that  found  where  it  may>  An  ingenuous  man  will  let  all  other 
people's  sentiments  alone  ;  or  represent  them  as  they  are,  according 
to  their  own  statements  of  them,  or  the  best  information,  if  their  own 
cannot  be  obtained.  And  if,  on  their  own  statement,  he  can  confute 
them,  he  is  justifiable  in  so  doing.  But  loathsome  as  our  faith  is  to 
this  world,  it  is  certainly  to  your  disadvantage  as  a  man  of  sense  and 
piety  to  misrepresent  us  for  your  own  extrication.  If  you  are  con- 
scious of  having  a  correct  understanding  of  the  perfect  Gospel,  what 
need  you  care  where  the  people  say  it  leads,  or  to  whom  it  is  akin  ? 
To  have  some  likeness  is  not  to  be  the  same  thing.  Some  people 
argue  that  our  faith  has  a  resemblance  to  the  Roman  Catholic,  which 
to  many  would  appear  a  strong  argument,  if  not  conclusive,  that  we 
are  wrong.  And  what  of  it  .^  That  insinuation  will  not  prove  us 
wrong,  neither  will  it  prove  that  our  faith  leads  to  the  Romans.  We 
have  no  need  to  misrepresent  them.  I  am  not  to  reject  a  truth  be- 
cause the  Roman  Catholics  believe  it.  It  is  my  joy  to  find  truth  be- 
lieved and  error  rejected  by  any  people. 

You  have  said,  (Address,  p.  106,)  "  I  do  not  design  to  investigate 
the  doctrines  of  the  Shakers  ;  but  to  remove  a  frequent  insinuation 
against  us,  which  is,  that  our  doctrines  lead  to  Shakerism.  By  Shak- 
erism  I  understand  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  that  denomination." 
After  stating  some,  in  your  manner,  of  which  I  shall  take  notice,  you 
say,  "  Now  to  which  of  these  doctrines  or  to  any  other  peculiar  doc- 
trine of  the  Shakers,  does  one  doctrine  we  hold  lead  .''  Did  we  pro- 
fess to  receive  immediate  inspirations  and  illuminations  before  we 
could  believe  the  Gospel,  the  objection  would  be  weighty."  Now 
Barton,  candour  ;  O  for  that  candour  which  you  so  highly  recommend 
to  others  !  Duplicity  in  the  statement  of  other  people's  doctrines — 
bold  insinuations  of  peremptory  falsehoods,  which  cannot  be  stated  in 
the  afiirmative  for  the  want  of  authority,  are  poor  means  for  a  man's 
own  exculpation  at  the  expense  of  others.  May  I  have  the  liberty  to 
put  a  construction  on  this  last  sentence,  at  least  thus  favourable,  that 
possibly,  through  the  determined  opposition  to  the  testimony,  so  early 
imbibed,  and  giving  full  credit  to  the  envious  reports,  you  might  have 
come  to  believe,  at  least  partly,  that  Shakers  hold  to  immediate  in- 
spirations and  illuminations  before  believing.  If  this  be  the  case,  for 
your  credit's  sake,  and  for  the  truth's  sake,  inform  yourself  better, 
before  you  say  any  more  about  the  doctrines  of  the  Shakers  ;  and 
wherein  they  agree  with  you,  acknowledge  the  truth,  and  let  it  have 
its  own  weight  and  steer  its  own  course.  But  if  you  believed  it  true, 
that  Shakers  profess  such  illuminations  before  believing,  why  did  you 
not  state  it  among  their  peculiar  doctrines  .''  Or  did  you  suppose  it 
not  peculiar  to  us,  and  place  it  where  you  did,  to  return  a  well-played 
sarcasm  on  the  Calvinists,  by  insinuating  that  their  doctrines  lead  to 
Shakerism,  because  they  hold  to  the  illumination,  or  a  renovating 
work  of  the  Spirit  before  believing  .''  But  even  in  that  case,  you  had 
no  right  to  misrepresent  our  faith.  Shakers  believe  in  the  illumina- 
tions or  inspirations  of  the  Spirit  in  the  present  day,  as  far  as  may  be 
necessary,  whether  mediate  or  immediate,  to  build  up  the  Church  of 
Christ  and  to  promote  the  Gospel  in  the  world,  and  to  understand  the 
Scriptures  sufficiently  for  their  proper  use  ;  but  they  are  so  far  from 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  463 

believing  as  you  have  stated  above,  that  they  do  not  believe  immediate 
inspirations  or  illuminations  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  individuals, 
(otherwise  than  as  the  Spirit  dwells  in  each  faithful  believer  with 
proper  gifts  and  graces,)  either  before  believing  the  Gospel  or  after. 
Shakers  believe,  that  it  is  the  undeniable  privilege  of  every  one  who 
hears  the  Gospel  to  believe  on  the  authority  of  God  therein  ministered, 
without  waiting  or  looking  for  any  other  work  or  power.  But  the 
public  will  soon  have  in  their  hands  information  enough  on  that  sub- 
ject. 

If  I  reverse  your  sentences  in  my  remarks  on  them,  it  will  not  be  to 
avoid  their  force,  but  to  get  those  last  on  which  I  design  to  treat  to 
the  greatest  extent.  And  when  I  have  done,  you  may  reflect  whether 
the  wise,  or  less  informed,  are  most  likely  to  conclude  your  doctrines 
lead  to  Shakerism.  I  cannot  deny  but  there  is  some  ingenuity  in  your 
statements,  as  well  as  duplicity  handsomely  covered,  and  calculated 
to  conceal  the  true  state  of  things  from  the  weak  and  less  informed. 
You  undertake  to  clear  yourself  of  the  "  insinuation  "  that  your  doc- 
trines lead  to  Shakerism.  To  effect  this,  you  state  what  you  under- 
stand by  Shakerism — "  The  peculiar  doctrines  of  that  denomination  ;" 
as  if  because  you  do  not  believe  the  doctrines  which  none  believe  but 
Shakers,  therefore  your  doctrines  do  not  lead  that  way.  But  you 
ought  to  know  that  to  be  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Shakers,  and  to  hold 
doctrines  leading  that  way,  are  two  things.  But  that  the  doctrines 
which  you  hold,  are  quite  favourable  to  the  Shakers,  when  compared 
with  those  of  Calvinists  and  some  others,  cannot  be  denied  by  any 
man  of  candour  and  discernment.     For  instance  : 

Calvinists  believe  that  God,  by  unchangeable  decree,  has  ordained 
all  things  to  be  just  as  they  come  to  pass,  and  that  the  eternal  condi- 
tion of  every  man  is  unalterably  fixed  without  respect  to  his  charac- 
ter or  works.  This  doctrine  you  deny — so  do  the  Shakers.  Calvin- 
ists and  some  others  hold  the  doctrine  of  surety-righteousness,  and 
surety-payment,  and  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  transferred, 
or  imputed  to  the  elect,  or  to  believers,  for  their  justification.  But 
this  doctrine  of  suretiship  on  which  all  these  things  depend,  you  re- 
ject with  all  its  consequences — so  do  the  Shakers.  Calvinists  believe 
that  the  regenerating  work  of  the  Spirit  is  necessary  in  every  one  to 
enable  him  to  believe  the  Gospel.  This  you  deny,  and  maintain  that 
a  sinner  is  capable  of  faith  in  Christ  previously  to  regeneration,  or 
the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  because  the  Spirit  is  received  through  faith — 
so  do  the  Shakers.  Calvinists  and  others  also  hold,  that  there  "are 
three  distinct  persons  in  Deity.  This  you  deny — and  so  do  the 
Shakers.  Those  also  hold  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  true 
and  very  God,  the  same  in  substance  with  the  Father.  This  yoii  de- 
ny, and  believe  that  he  is  a  creature,  and  that  his  divinity  consists  in 
the  principle  that  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead,  or  Deity,  dwelt  in  him 
bodily — so  do  the  Shakers.  Calvinists,  generally,  and  with  abhor- 
rence, reject  dancing  from  the  worship  of  God  ;  which  ye  approve 
and  practise — so  do  the  Shakers.  In  these  and  other  things  there  is 
no  just  ground  of  contention  between  us.  And  it  is  strange  if  your 
doctrines  do  not  lead  towards  Shakerism,  when  Shakers  and  you  agree 
in  so  many  points  which  are  rejected  by  others,  more  than  those  in 
which  others  and  .you  agree,  and  which  the  Shakers  reject.     I  know 


464  ON    THE    REVELATION    OP    CHRIST. 

you  are  not  a  Shaker.  I  suppose  tlie  Shakers'  full  illustration  of  some 
of  these  points  might  be  too  hot  for  you  to  swallow.  Besides  ;  Shak- 
ers believe  matters  which  you  disbelieve.  I  know  also,  that  you  are 
not  disentangled  from  Calvinism,  although  you  discard  the  greater 
part  of  it  in  words,  and  have  in  the  Letters  effectually  refuted  it  past 
recovery.  But  to  be  completely  unfettered,  you  never  will,  until 
you  be  a  partaker  of  the  faith  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing.  For 
it  is  true,  as  Calvinists  say,  that  there  is  no  place  to  stand  between  them 
and  us.  After  rejecting  the  Calvinist  doctrines  which  you  have  re- 
jected, particularly  that  of  surety-righteousness  imputed^  you  only  need 
an  open  and  hearty  acknowledgment  of  those  practical  words  of 
Christ,  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and 
take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me,"  to  preponderate  swiftly  towards  the 
Shakers.  And  is  it  not  highly  probable  that  you  had  been  with  them 
before  now,  had  you  not  rejected  your  own  light,  which  you  had  re- 
ceived of  God  in  the  revival,  which  had  been  just  preparing  the  way 
for  the  Shakers,  especially  such  as  that  which  you  ministered  in  that 
sermon,  in  which  you  taught  that  Christ  would  come  to  judgment  in 
the  people,  and  in  no  other  way.?  Was  not  that  doctrine  leading  to- 
wards Shakerism  .?  And  did  it  spring  from  the  commonly-received 
doctrines,  or  from  the  same  source  whence  also  sprung  your  other 
doctrines  which  formal  professors  oppose  ^  And  from  what  source 
did  it  spring — from  the  commonly-received  doctrines,  or  from  the 
same  source  with  your  other  offensive  doctrines — that  you  maintained 
the  propriety  of  a  community  of  interests  and  of  living,  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church  }  and  that  to  your  shame  the  Shakers  had  the  lead  of  you 
in  that  respect .''  Did  you  not  preach  it  boldly,  and  argue  that  you 
could  then  send  out  preachers  free  from  the  incumbrance  of  a  family  } 
And  did  you  not  persist  in  those  views  until  some  began  to  insinuate 
that  that  plan  led  to  Shakerism  .''  and  did  you  not  then  turn  back  and 
oppose  what  you  had  maintained  as  truth  }  And  has  not  this  been 
your  continued  method  of  evading  the  truth,  to  preserve  the  flesh, 
Bince  ever  the  cross  of  Christ  presented  itself  for  your  crucifixion  ? 
As  "  I  cannot  dig,  (can  get  no  deeper  into  the  revival  to  be  support- 
ed in  spirit  there,)  to  beg  I  am  ashamed,  (to  go  back  to  Calvinism, 
after  such  a  mortal  wound  as  you  have  given,  and  beg  for  quarters.) 
I  have  resolved  what  to  do,  that  when  I  am  put  out  of  the  steward- 
ship, they  may  receive  me  into  their  houses."  Accommodate  matters 
by  degrees. 

But  before  I  examine  all  your  statements  of  our  doctrines,  I  feel  in- 
clined to  help  you  to  an  eclaircissement  of  a  proposition  which  seems 
to  be  used  to  confirm  the  insinuation,  that  your  doctrines  lead  to  Shak- 
erism. "  But  it  is  said,  that  the  most  of  those  who  joined  the  Shakers 
were  of  our  communion.  *  *  *  But  I  would  ask,  who  were  the  peo- 
ple who  joined  them  in  such  multitudes  in  the  Eastern  States  some 
years  ago  .? — We  did  not  then  exist  as  a  people."  (Ibid.)  Yea,  but 
a  people  much  in  your  situation  did  ;  that  is,  in  the  situation  in  which 
you  were  when  the  first  witnesses  came  to  this  country — a  people  who 
had  been  the  subjects  of  a  noted  revival,  and  were  waiting  for  the 
kingdom  of  God,  in  full  expectation  that  it  was  at  hand — a  people 
who  were  led  by  the  power  of  God  in  that  revival,  forward  of  the  de- 
nominations, to  be  in  a  waiting  posture  for  the  Bridegroom.     And 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OP    CHRIST.  465 

should  you  ever  see  another  revival,  equal  to  the  former,  in  this  or 
any  other  country,  you  will  find  that  the  subjects  of  it  will  again  join 
the  Shakers ;  or,  in  other  words,  take  up  their  cross  and  follow  Christ 
in  the  path  of  self-denial,  and  then  the  world  will  hate  them  and  call 
them  Shakers.  And  should  you  never  see  another  general  revival ; 
yet  it  will  be  true,  and  if  you  will  be  liberal  enough  to  inquire  into  the 
reason  of  things,  you  may  see  it  with  your  eyes,  and  understand  it 
with  your  heart,  that  all  souls  who  become  heartily  willing  to  have 
Christ  and  his  salvation,  at  the  expense  of  all  carnal  things,  as  soon 
as  they  get  opportunity,  will  unite  with  the  Shakers  and  follow  Christ, 
bearing  their  cross,  that  is,  his  yoke. 

But  to  return  to  what  you  say  are  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Shak- 
ers. "  They  deny,"  say  you,  "  the  resurrection  of  the  body  from  the 
dead,  or  from  the  grave  ;  they  hold  to  auricular  confession  of  sins." 
On  these  points  I  shall  not  contest  your  statement.  The  public  have 
been  furnished  with  some  information  respecting  our  reasons,  and  the 
nature  of  our  faith  on  those  points,  and  will  be  with  more.  Perhaps 
you  have  forgotten  the  spirit  of  open  confession  which  appeared  in  the 
revival,  in  several  instances. 

You  say,  "  They  forbid  to  marry."  This  assertion  is  not  correct. 
Shakers  do  not  marry,  that  they  may  follow  Christ ;  and  that  they 
have  his  example,  and  that  he  taught  his  people  to  follow  him,  as 
well  as  that  he  left  us  an  example,  that  we  should  follow  his  steps, 
you  cannot  deny.  You  and  your  people  marry  after  the  course  of  this 
world,  or  the  first  Adam,  and  yet  presume  to  be  followers  of  Christ. 
Shakers  teach  that  marriage  is  a  civil  right  of  the  world,  and  not  a 
Christian  institution,  and  that  according  to  the  faith  and  example  of 
Christ  as  well  as  his  doctrine,  it  is  not  the  part  of  a  follower  of  Christ 
to  marry,  yet  leave  it  with  all  men  to  do  that  by  which  they  can  live 
most  acceptably  to  God  and  their  own  consciences.  But  we  are  satis- 
fied, and  no  man  has  yet  been  able  to  show  us  that  we  are  mistaken, 
when  we  say,  that  neither  we,  nor  any  other  people,  can  walk  in  the 
Spirit,  and  live  at  the  same  time  after  the  course  of  this  world.  May 
I  once  more  refer  you  to  your  own  words,  and  pray  you  to  be  consist- 
ent with  yourself.  (Address,  pp.  5,6.)  "Should  any  say  we  deny 
their  explanation  of  such  doctrines,  they  would  speak  correctly.  Had 
you  said  the  Shakers  deny  that  marriage  is  according  to  the  example 
or  faith  of  Christ,  and  believe  it  has  no  place  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  or 
Gospel  Church,  you  would  have  been  correct.  But  this  would  have 
been  acknowledging  too  much  truth  with  the  Shakers.  It  is  a  pity 
that  a  man  who  has  assumed  the  name  of  a  Christian,  should  not  exer- 
cise the  same  candour  towards  others,  which  he  claims  of  others  to- 
wards himself. 

But  another  doctrine  you  say  is,  "  That  the  final  judgment  is  come 
and  going  on  by  the  Shakers."  This  statement  is  lame,  and  calculated 
to  make  false  impressions,  for  the  want  of  something  explanatory. 
That  the  judgment  has  commenced,  and  that  we  have  found  and  obey- 
ed the  Gospel  by  which  God  is  judging,  and  eventuall}'  will  judge,  not 
only  us  who  have  now  believed,  but  all  other  men,  we  will  not  deny — 
this  is  our  faith.  But  human  nature  is,  as  it  has  been,  enmity  against 
God.  No  message  has  ever  been  sent  from  God  to  increase  the  know- 
ledge of  his  name  or  worship,  but  there  were  some  to  oppose  and  mis- 
31 


466  ON  THE  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST. 

represent  it.  ''  Report,  say  they,  and  we  will  report."  "  But  the  dis- 
ciple is  not  above  his  master,  nor  the  servant  above  his  Lord.  It  is 
enough  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as  his  master  ;  and  the  servant  as 
his  Lord."  We  need  not  therefore  expect  to  escape  misrepresentation. 
And  again  said  Jesus  :  "  I  am  come  in  my  Father's  name,  and  ye  re- 
ceive me  not  ;  if  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  him  ye  will  re- 
ceive." (Jno.  V.  43.)  If  the  testimony  were  according  to  the  desires 
of  men,  it  would  be  received.  It  has  perpetually  been  represented  as 
though  the  Shakers  want  to  claim  the  work  as  being  their  own — that 
they  run  before  God  and  aim  to  take  the  work  out  of  his  hands  not- 
withstanding that  their  testimony  uniformly  is,  That  God  is  the  judo-e 
of  all,  and  they  are  his  witnesses — that  Christ  is  come  to  judo-e  the 
world  according  to  the  Gospel,  or  that  word  which  he  said  would  judge 
them  in  the  last  day ;  and  they  are  his  witnesses  to  the  people — that 
the  time  is  come  that  judgment  must  begin  at  the  house  of  God — and 
that  now  is  the  judgment  of  this  world,  and  now  shall  the  prince  of  this 
world  be  cast  out;  and  that  in  all  these  things  they  are  witnesses  to 
the  people. 

Now  in  these  things  we  may  discover  that  the  judgment  is- not  to 
destroy  the  lives  or  souls  of  men,  but  to  judge  and  cast  out  the  prince 
of  this  world,  that  is  the  devil,  and  that  all  souls  who  will  submit  to 
the  judgment  and  freely  cast  out  the  prince,  or  spirit  of  this  world,  that 
spirit  that  now  works  in  the  children  of  disobedience,  may  be  saved, 
and  become  also  witnesses  of  God  and  of  his  righteous  judgment,  and 
helpers  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty,  and  thusall  join  issue  with  God 
against  the  nature  of  evil ;  none  being  finally  condemned,  onlj-  those 
who  refuse  to  submit.  And  farther,  it  is  evident  according  to  this  doc- 
trine, that  the  work  of  the  judgment,  and  the  privilege  of  being  wit- 
nesses for  God  in  the  judgment  of  the  wicked,  is  not  arrogated  by  a 
few,  or  by  any  number  whatever,  as  though  they  thought  themselves 
any  better  than  other  people,  or  in  any  peculiar  sense  the  favourites  of 
Heaven,  to  the  disadvantage  or  degradation  of  others,  but  the  testimony 
of  God  which  they  have  received,  is  equally  held  out  to  all,  and  with 
equal  privilege.  The  true  statement  therefore  is,  that  God  has  begun 
to  call  the  world  to  a  final  settlement,  or  to  judgment,  and  that  as  fast 
as  the  people  come  to  a  settlement  of  their  accounts,  they  are  called 
Shakers.  You  and  the  rest  of  the  world  may  exclaim,  that  we  are  de- 
ceived and  have  a  devil;  but  we  can  reply,  in  the  words  and  spirit  of 
our  meek  and  patient  Master,  we  have  not  a  devil ;  but  we  honour  our 
Father  and  our  Master.  Satan  is  not  divided  against  Satan,  and  which 
of  you  convinces  us  of  sin,  in  the  faith  which  we  have  against  it  .^ 
"  They  never  yet  have  done  it ;  and  if  we  may  guess  their  future  suc- 
cess by  their  former  efforts,  I  almost  conclude  they  never  can.  It  is 
easier  to  declaim  against  some  doctrines  than  to  refute  them.  Many 
have  chosen  the  former,  and  have  gained  their  point  with  the  unthink- 
ing and  prejudiced."   (Address,  p.  6L)      But  the  truth  will  stand. 

You  say  Shakers  teach,  "  That  Christ  has  come  the  second  time  in 
Anna  Lee,  without  sin  unto  salvation — that  we  are  now  to  obtain  sal- 
vation by  Anna  Lee  and  not  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  I  take  these  sen- 
tences together,  as  being  intimately  connected,  that  I  may  consider 
them  with  the  less  labour.  There  is  enough  written,  and  in  the  hands 
of  the  public,  to  have  informed  you  better  than  you  have  here  stated. 


ON  THE  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST.  467 

But  perhaps  your  prejudice  ran  too  high  to  let  you  read.  It  is  more 
agreeable  to  the  carnal  mind  to  live  on  the  vague  reports  of  the  enemy, 
than  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

According  to   your  statement,  the   faith  of  the  Shakers  is  to  set 
Jesus  Christ  aside  from  being  the  author  of  salvation,  and  the  salvation 
of  God  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.     On  that  principle  they  must  he  fools 
in  the  extreme,  to  suffer  as  much  opposition  as  they  do,  or  have  done^ 
for  the  sake  of  keeping  the  faith  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth ;  to  stripes  of- 
ten ;  to  bonds  and  imprisonment  in  some  cases ;  to  the  destruction  of 
much  property  by  the  burning  of  barns  and  the  like  ;  and  all  because 
they  keep  the  faith  of  Christ,  from  whom,  according  to  you,  they  ex- 
pect no  salvation,  consequently  no  reward.     Besides  the  daily  cross 
which  they  bear,  and  the  sslf-denial,  which  to  you  are  more  than  death, 
together  with  the  universal  torrent  of  opposition  from  the  corruption 
of  the  whole  world  ;  and  all  for  Christ  whom  they  esteem  as  nothing 
— no  Saviour.     That  woman  also,  of  whom  you  speak,  as   the   sup- 
planter,  or  substitute  of  Jesus,  must  have  been  very  foolish  indeed, 
to   have   suffered  such   things,   and  much  more  than    any,   to    sup- 
port the   character,  cross  and  faith  of  Christ,  if  she  counted  herself 
able  to  save  without  him.     I  wonder  how  such  a  woman  as  you  say  she 
was,  could  gather  so  many  people  to  receive  her  testimony  which  is 
so  offensive  to  human  nature,  thou  thyself  being  witness  ;  people  too 
who  have  been  waiting  for  the  salvation  of  God  for  years,  and  have 
undergone  more  pain  and  distress  about  that  one  thing  than  all  others 
— a  people,  many  of  whom  were  led  forth   to  where  her  testimony 
found  them,  by  that  revival  and  that  manner  of  preaching  in  which, 
you  were  once  a  bold  labourer.     And  I  wonder  how  such  dupes  as 
could  be  led  by  such  a  woman  are  able  to  live  together  in  a  society, 
(for  great  wisdom,  either  human  or  divine,  is  necessary  to  govern 
mankind  in   close  connection ;  something  more  than  common  fools 
possess,)  and  not  only  in  society,  but  in  the  best  order  and  under  the 
best  regulations  of  any  people  on  earth  ;  to  the  admiration  of  the  be- 
holders, and  confounding  of  the  wisest  men  on  earth  ;   (has  not  God 
made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world  ?    "  For  it  is  written,  I  will  destroy 
the  wisdom  of  the  wise,  and  will  bring  to  nothing  the  understanding 
of  the  prudent ;")  to  the  terror  also  of  Antichristians  whose  consciences 
are  awake,  because  they  feel  that  these  foolish  people  have  the  fear, 
knowledge  and  powerful  presence  of  God,  in  a  manner  or   degree 
which  they  never  experienced.     As  thou  also  knowest,  that  the  only 
way  for  thee  to  escape  the  terror  of  death,  is  to  keep  well  out  of  the 
Shakers'  reach  ;  because  to  be  familiar  or  accessible  with  them  on  the 
affairs  of  the  Gospel  of 'Christ,  the  sharp  two-edged  sword  which  goes 
out  of  their  mouth,  would  goad  thy  religion  out  of  thy  soul.     That 
which  cannot  be  shaken,  shakes  all.     The  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser 
than  men. 

But  how  did  you  find  out  that  the  Shakers  expect  salvation  by  Anna 
Lee  and  not  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  By  the  same  rule  which  a  man 
would  take  to  find  out  that  Paul  expected  salvation  by  Ananias  and 
not  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  For  Paul  was  not  afraid  nor  ashamed  to 
acknowledge  before  the  world,  that  Ananias  ministered  to  him  Christ, 
and  told  him  what  was  appointed  for  him  to  do  ;  so  neither  do  the 
Shakers  fear  nor  refuse  to  acknowledge,  as  they  have  published  to  the 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

world,  tliat  Anna  Lee  did  minister  to  them  Christ,  and  teach  them 
the  way  of  God  in  all  things,  in  subjection  and  subordination  to  Jesus 
Christ  her  Lord  and  Master,  whom  she  ever  acknowledged,  and  for 
whom  she  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  endured  the  reproaches, 
the  hatred  and  the  persecution  of  this  evil  world,  as  her  children  also 
do  to  this  day,  for  his  name's  sake.  But  can  you  produce  any  writ- 
ings of  theirs,  any  authentic  documents,  to  show  that  they  ever  bore 
such  a  testimony,  or  intimated  such  a  thought,  as  salvation  by  Anna 
Lee  without  Jesus  Christ  ?  whom  you  and  Pilate  have  called  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ;  which  name  you  seem  to  have  adopted,  (not  that  there  is 
any  real  evil  in  the  term  ;  see  Acts  iii.  6,  and  x.  3,  8,)  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  keeping  the  anointing  Spirit,  which  constituted  him  the 
Christ,  as  far  out  of  sight  and  as  deeply  vailed  in  humanity  as  prac- 
ticable, that  you  might  exclude  the  possibility  of  his  being  revealed 
according  to  the  order  of  God  in  the  present  day.  But  all  such  at- 
tempts will  prove  abortive.  Must  I  once  more  refer  you  to  your  own 
lessons,  that  you  may  study  them,  and  learn  to  state  other  people's 
doctrines  as  they  state  them,  and  to  look  into  all  their  reasons .''  and 
then  if  you  can  refute  them  do  so. 

But  it  is  easier  to  declaim  than  to  refute.  (Address, p.  61.)  Perhaps 
that  was  the  reason  that  one  of  your  brethren  exclaimed,  as  it  is  said 
he  did,  and  with  Paul,  I  at  least  j)artly  believe  it :  "  That  woman-God 
my  soul  abhors.''''  And  what  would  ye  think  of  a  man-God  ?  Or  do 
ye  suppose  that  God  is  any  more  in  the  shape  of  a  man  than  of  a  wo- 
man .''  Or  that  there  is  any  more  inconsistency  in  the  revelation  of 
the  Spirit  or  Word  of  God  in  a  woman  than  a  man  }  Or  do  ye  ac- 
count a  woman  too  inferior  a  being  for  God  to  take  any  notice  of  her, 
or  give  her  any  part  in  the  work  of  redemption,  being  fit  for  nothing 
but  the  gratification  of  the  lust  of  concupiscence  in  carnal  men  ?  You 
may  esteem  the  foregoing  intolerably  satirical ;  but  whether  it  be 
more  so  than  your  own  language  calls  for,  or  whether  it  be  not  the 
most  eligible  kind  of  reply,  they  who  see  both  may  determine.  What 
is  more  unpardonable  in  a  writer,  than  thus  barefacedly  to  misrepre- 
sent the  faith  of  others  .''  It  is  a  pity.  Barton,  that  you  should  act 
the  same  part  against  us,  which  he  acted  against  you,  to  whom  you 
justly  replied,  "  Heaven  knows  you  are  wrong. ''^  You  are  a  man  whom 
I  have  greatly  esteemed,  and  am  still  ready,  as  soon  as  your  opposi- 
tion to  the  cross  of  Christ  shall  be  so  far  abated  as  to  invite  me,  to 
esteem  and  treat  as  a  man  of  real  worth.  But  I  must  proceed.  You 
and  others  are  welcome  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  as  fast  as  ye 
will  obey  it. 

That  Christ  has  come  the  second  time  without  sin  to  salvation,  and 
that  he  dwelt  in  Anna  Lee,  and  was  by  and  in  her  revealed  to  those 
who  were  looking  for  him,  as  the  chosen  vessel  appointed  of  God  to 
that  work.  Shakers  do  not  deny,  else  they  had  never  made  such  clear 
and  explicit  publications  to  the  world  as  they  have.  But  with  all 
this,  they  do  not  expect  to  obtain  salvation  by  Anna  Lee  a7id  not  by 
Jesus  Christ,  any  more  than  the  apostles  and  other  Christians,  be- 
cause Jesus  revealed  the  Father  to  them,  expected  to  obtain  salvation 
by  the  man  Jesus  and  not  by  God  the  Lord,  the  Saviour  of  Israel, 
whom  Jesus  ever  acknowledged  as  the  doer  of  the  work.  They  also 
acknowledge  her  as  their  spiritual  parent ;  and  that  she  is  the  first 


ON  THE  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST.  469 

Mother  in  the  new  creation,  of  all  who  are  saved,  as  really  as  Jesus 
the  Lord,  hers  and  ours,  is  the  first  Father  ;  and  that  she  is  coheiress 
with  him,  in  the  honour  and  glory  of  our  redemption.  But  the  man 
is  the  head  of  the  woman ;  nevertheless,  neither  is  the  man  without 
the  woman,  neither  the  woman  without  the  man,  in  the  Lord,  more 
than  in  Adam.  For  as  the  woman  is  of  the  man,  even  so  is  the  man  also 
by  the  woman  ;  but  all  things  of  God.  And  we  have  a  right  to  re- 
present our  own  faith  as  we  understand  it,  and  no  man  nor  angel  has  any 
right  to  subvert,  or  misrepresent  it.  And  we  are  able,  as  a  people,  to 
exhibit  to  honest  inquirers,  better  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  our 
faith  in  Christ,  than  any  people  on  earth,  who  do  not  know  Christ  as 
revealed  in  our  Mother.  But  of  the  nature  and  consistency  of  such 
a  revelation  of  Christ  we  will  state  a  few  things,  the  plain  publication 
already  made  notwithstanding. 

The  coming  of  Christ  is  a  matter  unknown  to  all  men,  until  learn- 
ed in  the  event ;  notwithstanding  that  so  many  are  weak  enough  to 
imagine  they  can  understand  it  by  the  language  of  the  Scriptures. 
And  although  all  the  Scripture  language  on  this  subject  is  necessarily 
prophetic,  and  is  also  full  of  symbols  and  metaphors,  the  people  in- 
tensely look  for  a  literal  fulfillment.  But  of  the  different  descrip- 
tions of  his  coming,  if  literal,  which  one  would  apply  to  the  event, 
no  man  could  tell.  It  is  written  :  "  This  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up 
from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen 
him  go  into  heaven."  Hence  men  conclude,  that  Christ  will  come  in 
a  visible  cloud,  or  sitting  on  it,  visible  to  the  physical  man.  But  they 
forget  two  things.  The  first  is  :  That  he  was  not  visible  to  the  phy- 
sical man  or  natural  sight  when  he  ascended,  nor  at  any  time  after  he 
came  forth  from  the  grave,  or  place  of  the  dead.  Therefore  his 
disciples,  being  yet  natural,  could  never  see  him  only  when  there  was 
a  special  gift  of  God  for  that  purpose  ;  and  none  but  disciples  ever 
saw  him  all  the  time  he  abode  with  them  or  when  he  ascended.  And 
in  the  second  place  ;  Shall  so  come  in  like  manner^  cannot  be  a  full 
description  of  his  coming.  For  if  the  description  and  language  be 
figurative,  as  they  no  doubt  are,  with  all  the  rest,  we  are  left  to  learn 
the  manner  by  the  event.  But  if  any  consider  the  description  and 
coming  to  be  literal,  many  important  matters  which  are  predicated  of 
his  coming  are  lacking.  He  was  to  come  in  flaming  fire  ;  but  we  find 
no  such  account  in  his  ascent.  He  was  to  come  with  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet,  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel  and  the  trump 
of  God  ;  but  no  account  of  any  such  matter  in  the  ascent.  But  if 
he  went  into  heaven  in  flaming  fire ^  it  was  in  the  power  and  Spirit  of 
God,  who  is  a  flaming  and  consuming  fire  ;  bu.t  unknown  and  unseen 
by  any  but  those  in  the  Spirit ;  and  thus  he  comes.  If  he  ascended 
with  a  shout ;  as  it  is  written :  "  God  is  gone  up  with  a  shout,  the 
Lord  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet ;"  it  was  only  heard  and  under- 
stood by  those  in  the  Spirit  and  not  by  those  in  nature.  And  so  is 
his  coming  in  like  manner  known  only  to  those  in  the  Spirit,  and  by 
those  who  have  the  Spirit  in  them.  And  if  a  cloud  received  him  out 
of  their  sight,  in  a  cloud  shall  he  return,  in  like  manner^  in  myriads  oj 
his  saints,  in  a  cloud  composed  of  all  the  saints  who  had  waited  for 
his  ascension  from  the  beginning.  And  the  shout  of  a  King  was 
among  them.     Thus  his  coming  is  in  like  manner  as  his  ascension  ; 


470  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

In  the  Spirit,  known  and  understood  only  by  those  in  the  Spirit ; 
and  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  who  are  to  bear  witness  to  the 
people. 

A  few  words  to  show  what  Christ  is,  may  help  to  illustrate  the  sub- 
ject. The  term  Christ,  you  know,  is  from  the  Greek,  and  signifies 
the  Anointed.  The  Christ,  therefore,  is  one  anointed  of  God  and  set 
apart  to  a  certain  office  or  lot,  or  the  performance  of  an  appointed 
work.  Thus  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  was  anointed  and  consecrated 
by  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  to  open  the  new  and  living  way,  and  to 
do  all  things  necessary  to  the  bringing  in  of  the  better  hope,  the 
Gospel  of  perfect  salvation,  and  thus  to  be  the  Redeemer,  the  Cap- 
tain of  all  who  are  saved,  and  the  Head  of  the  body.  And  when 
Jesus  ascended,  the  same  Spirit  was  given  to  the  apostles  and  other 
disciples  to  carry  on  and  perfect  the  work  of  salvation.  "  As  my 
Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you."  ''  It  is  expedient  for  you 
that  I  go  away  ;  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come 
unto  you;  but  if  I  depart  I  will  send  him  unto  you.  And  when  he 
is  come  [to  you,  and  abideth  in  you  for  that  purpose]  he  will  con- 
vince the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment."  Ac- 
cordingly, the  disciples  and  other  members  of  the  body,  Jesus  Christ 
being  the  head,  are  one  body;  and  it  is  called  Christ.  "  For  as  the 
body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the  members  of  that 
one  body  being  many  or  one  body  ;  so  also  is  Christ ;"  that  is,  the 
body,  or  Church.  This  is  correctly  according  to  your  own  statement. 
(Reply,  p.  1,9.)  Therefore,  wherever  the  anointing  of  the  Spirit  is, 
with  the  power  of  salvation,  there  is  the  true  Christ  of  God — there 
is  Jesus  the  Saviour.  "  For  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together 
in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them  :"  not  the  man,  as  a 
distinct  personality  ;  but  the  anointed  Saviour,  the  Christ. 

Consistently  with  these  things,  the  anointed  ministers  of  God  under 
the  law,  before  the  Gospel  or  the  true  Christ  was  known,  were  called 
christs.  The  ministering  priest  under  the  law  of  Moses  was  the 
christ  [n'tyDn]  of  that  day,  a  mediator  between  God  and  the  people. 
And  the  priests  of  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel,  as  set  apart  to 
the  work  and  worship  of  God,  each  in  his  proper  office,  were  his 
christs;  as  it  is  written;  "Touch  not  mine  anointed,  [■'n''jyD3,  my 
christs,]  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm."  (Psa.  cv.  15.)  Cyrus  also, 
the  king  of  Babylon,  being  set  apart  by  God's  appointment,  to  bring 
about  the  deliverance  of  his  people,  was  called  his  christ.  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  to  his  anointed,  [in't^ob,  to  his  christ."]  (Isa  xlv.  1.) 
From  these  examples  it  is  plain,  that  the  anointed  of  God  is  the 
Christ.  And  when  Jesus  was  anointed  to  the  work  of  redemption,  as 
the  high  priest  of  our  profession,  he  became  pre-eminently  the  Christ ; 
and  the  same-  anointing  in  the  Church,  his  body,  constitutes  that 
body  the  Christ  of  God.  After  the  falling  away  therefore,  when  the 
power  of  the  holy  people  was  scattered,  when  once  the  same  anoint- 
ing is  fou.nd  in  the  Church  on  earth,  in  the  power  of  salvation,  there 
is  Christ  in  his  second  appearing — there  is  the  anointing — there  is 
the  Spirit ;  and  that  Spirit  is  the  Lord :  he  is  a  quickening  Spirit. 
And  if  men  argue  that  it  is  said,  This  same  Jesus  shall  so  come  ;  that 
argument  will  not  overturn  or  weaken  what  is  here  stated  ;  for  this 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  471 

snme  Jesus  is  not  a  body  of  flesli  and  bones,  but  a  quickening  Spirit — 
Christ  in  bis  people. 

And  that  Christ  may  be  revealed  to  those  who  look  for  him  to  their 
understanding  and  salvation,  without  any  advent  or  vision  of  that  hu- 
man body,  or  visible  personality,  in  which  he  once  appeared,  is  proved 
as  follows.  In  the  first  place,  He  is  a  Spirit  5  as  it  is  written,  "  Now 
the  Lord  is  that  Spirit ;  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  there  is 
liberty."  Thus  the  Lord,  or  the  true  Christ  is  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord ;  that  very  Spirit  which  his  apostles,  or  ministers,  minister  to 
the  people.  This  is  still  farther  evident  by  observing  that  the  words, 
"  The  Lord  is  that  Spirit,''^  are  in  direct  relation  to  the  words  before 
written,  "  Who  hath  made  us  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament ; 
not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  Spirit.  (2  Cor.  iii.  6.)  Now  the  true 
Christ  being  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  as  here  proved,  can  be  revealed 
to  men  and  they  can  know  him,  without  the  vision  or  presence  of  any 
material  personality.  For  Christ  is  in  all  his  saints,  as  it  is  again 
written  :  "  Christ  in  you  the  hope  of  glory."  (Col.  i.  27.)  This  was 
not  any  visible  body  or  personality,  but  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise, 
or  promised  Spirit,  which  is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance,  or  hope 
of  glory.  (Compare  Eph.  i.  13,  14.)  In  the  same  manner  the  Father 
dwelt  in  Jesus  the  Son  ;  and  the  Father  and  the  Son  dwell  with  those 
whom  the  Father  loves,  because  they  love  the  Son  and  keep  his  words. 
"If  any  man  love  me  he  will  keep  my  words;  and  my  Father  will 
love  him,  and  we  will  come  to  him,  a^id  make  our  abode  with  him." 
"  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me  and 
I  in  you."  "  But  if  the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the 
dead  dwell  in  you.,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall  also 
quicken  your  mortal  bodies  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you." 

This  then  is  the  order  in  which  Christ  is  revealed  in  his  people,  and 
by  or  in  them  to  the  world  who  cannot  otherwise  come  to  know  him, 
as  he  said  again  :  "  That  they  all  may  be  one  ;  as  thou.  Father,  art  in 
me,  and  I  in  thee  ;  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us  ;  that  the  world 
may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me — I  in  them  and  thou  in  me."  (Jno. 
xvii.  21,  23.)  And  in  this  manner  he  was  to  be  revealed  in  the  final 
judgment.  "  Behold  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  [Greek,  in 
myriads]  of  his  saints,  to  execute  judgment  upon  all  and  to  convince 
all  that  are  ungodly  among  them."  (Jude  14, 15.)  "  When  he  shall 
come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that 
believe  in  that  day." 

Now  there  is  no  more  inconsistency,  or  impropriety,  in  saying  that 
Christ  has  come  the  second  time  without  sin  to  salvation,  when  the 
same  anointing  which  gives  power  over  all  sin,  is  again  restored  to 
those  who  have  been  looking  for  him,  than  in  the  saying  of  Jesus,  that 
Elias  is  alreadij  come,  meaning  John  the  Baptist  in  the  spirit  of  Ell- 
as, that  is,  of  the  prophets  in  him.  For  according  to  those  sayings 
which  are  used  concerning  John,  it  is  evident  that  the  advent,  or  pre- 
sence of  the  visible  personality^  is  not  necessary  to  the  fulfilling  of  a 
prophecy  that  one  should  come  again.  For  thus  it  is  written  :  "  And 
if  ye  will  receive  it,  this  is  Elias  who  was  to  come,"  and  again : 
"  He  shall  go  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias."  (Matt.  xi.  14  ;  Luke 
i.  17.)  And  this  was  the  fulfillment  of  that  prophecy  :  "Behold,  I 
will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet."  (Mai.  iv.  5.)      In  like  manner 


472  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

was  this  prophecy  fulfilled  in  John :  "  The  yoice  of  him  that  crieth 
in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  straight  in  the 
desert  a  highway  for  our  God  ;"  for  "  He  saith,  I  am  the  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness,  Make  straight  the  way  of  the  Lord,  as  said 
the  prophet  Esaias."  (Jno.  i.  23  ;  Isa.  xl.  3.)  Now  he  was  not  lit- 
erally that  voice  ;  but  that  voice  or  spirit  was  in  him,  and  he  uttered 
it  When  therefore  Mother  said  that  the  Word  dwelt  in  her, 
the  expression  was  correct:  no  objection  could  be  supported  against 
her  on  that  score.  Thus, "  The  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  amongst 
us,"  is  true  language,  thoiigh  figurative  ;  for  that  flesh  was  not  God, 
but  the  Word  was  God  ;  the  meaning  therefore  is,  that  the  Word  dwelt 
in  flesh.  I  have  also  proved  that  Christ  was  thus  to  come  in  his  peo- 
ple ;  and  that  the  revelation,  or  manifestation,  of  that  Spirit  or 
Word,  which  is  Christ,  is  the  revelation,  or  appearing  of  Christ.  No 
argument  therefore  can  be  supported  against  the  consistency  of  this 
doctrine,  that  Christ  is  revealed  in  Mother,  whose  name  according  to 
the  flesh  is,  originally,  Anna  Lee,  and  by  her  to  the  people. 

As  to  what  may  be  objected,  that  according  to  this  view  he  is  re- 
vealed only  in  one,  whereas  according  to  the  Scriptures  he  was  to 
come  with  or  in  many  ;  let  it  be  remembered  that  every  dispensation 
of  God  had  its  beginning  in  one,  as  in  Adam,  in  Abraham,  in  Moses, 
in  John,  in  Jesus  and  in  Mother.  And  as  the  Word  was  first  reveal- 
ed in  one,  who  was  the  man  Jesus,  so  last  of  all  it  is  revealed  the  se- 
cond time  in  the  one  woman,  who  is  called  Mother.  But  this  will  be 
farther  opened  in  the  sequel. 

But  the  egregious  reproach  and  stumbling-block  are,  that  Christ 
should  be  revealed  in  a  woman.  No  doubt  this  is  degrading  and 
mortifying  to  proud  human  nature,  to  the  carnal  mind  which  exalts 
itself  above  all  that  is  called  God  or  that  is  worshipped,  to  yield  to 
the  gift  and  revelation  of  God  in  a  woman,  for  its  own  destruction. 
But  thus  God  works,  "to  stain  the  pride  of  all  glory,  and  to  bring 
into  contempt  all  the  honourable  of  the  earth,  whether  male  or  fe- 
male, and  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence."  Thus  God 
laid  a  brand  of  contempt  and  reproach  on  the  seat  of  the  pride  and 
glory  of  man,  which  was  the  outward  sign  of  circumcision  in  the 
flesh,  and  was  committed  to  Abraham  the  typical  father  of  the  faith- 
ful. This  seems  to  have  been  a  cause  of  reproach  to  the  Jews  ;  hence 
the  Roman  poet :  "  Credat  Judseus  appella,  non  ego  ;"  A  circumcised 
Jew  may  believe  it^  1  cannot.  This  stigma  was  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
be  exclusively  fixed  on  the  male. 

But  when  Christ  appeared  in  the  true  circumcision  in  the  Spirit, 
making  no  exception  of  male  or  female,  which  was  so  deep  that  the 
flesh  could  not  carry  it  and  live,  because  it  extended  to  the  putting 
off"  of  the  whole  body  of  the  sins  and  lusts  of  the  flesh,  (for  they  that 
are  Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh  with  its  aifections  and  lusts,)  this 
ofl'ended  the  whole  world,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles.  "  The  world  can- 
not hate  you  ;  but  me  it  hateth,  because  I  testify  to  it,  that  the  works 
thereof  are  evil."  "  Whose  God  is  their  belly,  and  whose  glory  is  in, 
their  shame  ;  who  mind,  [or  savour,]  earthly  things."  "  For  it  is  a 
shame  even  to  speak  of  those  things  which  are  done  of  them  in  secret." 
(Jno.  vii.  7;  Phil.  iii.  19;  Eph.  v.  12.)  During  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sation, the  works  of  the  flesh  could  be  performed,  and  it  could  live 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  473 

and  glory,  notwithstanding  the  stigma  fixed  on  the  seat  of  the  beast. 
But  in  Christ  the  circumcision  is  real  and  not  a  sign ;  in  the  Spirit, 
and  cuts  ofi"  the  whole  body,  through  faith  and  not  with  the  hands; ; 
not  only  in  the  man  Jesus,  but  also  in  all  those  who  are  in  Christ,  and 
who  walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit ;  for  in  such  the 
righteousness  of  the  law  is  fulfilled,  as  it  ia  written  :  "  For  God  send- 
ing his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  on  account  of  sin, 
condemned  sin  in  the  flesh  ;  that  which  the  law  could  not  do  in  that 
it  was  weak  through  the  flesh  ;  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might 
be  fulfilled  in  u.s,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit." 
"  And  ye  are  complete  in  him,  who  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and 
power  ;  in  whom  also  ye  are  circumcised  with  the  circumcision  made 
without  hands,  in  putting  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh,  by  the  cir- 
cumcision of  Christ :"  not  imputed  to  them ;  but  being  themselves 
circumcised.   (Rom.  viii.  3,  4  ;  Col.  ii.  10,  11.) 

Yet  in  the  first  appearing  of  Christ  it  was  not  unexceptionably  re- 
quired of  all  who  believed,  to  cease  from  all  the  works  of  the  flesh,  or 
to  receive  this  saying,  that  "  it  is  not  good  to  marry ,  but  he  that  is 
able  to  receive  it  let  him  receive  it."  All  that  was  in  that  day  abso- 
lutely reqiiired  was,  that  all  should  live  up  to  that  which  they  pro- 
fessed, and  not  pretend  to  bear  a  full  cross,  and  afterwards  incline  to 
marry  ;  for  by  so  doing  they  fell  under  guilt,  and  gave  an  advantage 
to  the  enemy  to  reproach  the  profession,  lost  their  power  and  proceed- 
ed to  greater  lengths  in  wickedness,  than  if  they  had  never  made  such 
a  profession.  Hence  Paul  advised  Timothy  to  receive  into  the  num- 
ber none  but  the  best  characters,  and  those  who  were  also  supposed 
to  be  past  the  age  of  marrying ;  and  preferred  that  the  younger  widows 
should  marry,  and  only  profess  that  order  which  they  were  able  to 
keep.  "  Let  not  a  widow  be  taken  into  the  number  under  threescore 
years  old,  having  been  the  wife  of  one  man,  well  reported  of  for  good 
works  :  if  she  have  brought  up  children,  if  she  have  lodged  strangers, 
if  she  have  washed  the  saints'  feet,  if  she  have  relieved  the  afflicted, 
if  she  have  diligently  followed  every  good  work.  But  the  younger 
widows  refuse,  for  when  they  have  begun  to  wax  wanton  against  Christy 
they  are  willing  to  marry  ;  having  damnation,  because  they  have  cast 
off  their  first  faith.  And  withal  they  learn  to  be  idle,  wandering  about 
from  house  to  house,  and  not  only  idle,  but  tattlers  also,  and  busy- 
bodies,  speaking  things  which  they  ought  not.  I  will  therefore  that 
the  younger  widows  marry,  bear  children,  guide  the  house,  give  none 
occasion  to  the  adversary  to  speak  reproachfully.  For  some  have 
already  turned  aside  after  Satan."  (1  Tim.  v.  9,  &c.)  Considering 
your  acquaintance  with  the  Greek  language,  it  might  be  thought  im- 
pertinent in  me  to  apologize  to  you  for  the  variations  which  I  have 
made  from  the  common  translation.  It  was  a  bold  blunder,  to  use  the 
mildest  term,  in  the  translators,  to  supply  the  above  ellipsis  with  the 
word  womerij  when  it  is  so  evident  to  every  scholar,  that  widoio  is  the 
only  admissible  word.  Now  it  is  impossible  that  this  number  should 
be  merely  that  of  the  widows  to  be  maintained  ;  for  it  would  be  cruel 
in  the  extreme — not  only  unchristian  but  inhuman — to  refuse  a  widow 
who  had  no  living,  because  she  was  not  sixty  years  old  ;  and  for  a 
young  widow  to  marry,  would  be  no  reproach  but  a  credit,  as  well  as 
to  relieve  the  Church  of  that  much  expense,  if  marrying  had  been  ac- 


474  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

cording  to  Christ,  or  her  first  faith  had  not  been  to  the  contrary  ;  by 
the  casting  oif  of  which  she  received  damnation;  which  also  could  not 
have  been  if  that  first  faith  had  been  unnecessary  or  improper :  for 
who  can  be  condemned  for  doing  what  is  proper  ?  Besides ;  When 
they  wax  wanton  ayahist  Christ  they  are  willing  to  marry,  and  not  be- 
fore. That  number  therefore  could  be  none  else  than  those  who  un- 
dertook to  bear  a  full  cross  after  the  example  of  Christ,  who  were  in 
truth  the  Church,  and  willing  to  maintain  all  widows  who  were  widows 
indeed,   (ver.  16,  and  5,  6.) 

In  that  dispensation  there  was  still  some  indulgence  ;  many  things 
pertaining  to  the  flesh,  that  source  of  mischief,  were  borne  with  in 
those  who  could  come  no  nearer.  But  the  second  appearing  of 
Christ  is  completely  without  sin  to  salvation  ;  no  sin,  no  fleshly  thing 
can  be  endured  in  those  who  keep  relation  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 
Accordingly,  the  Apostle,  writing  to  those  carnal  Corinthians,  who 
could  not  endure  strong  meat,  among  many  other  instructions,  in  all 
which  he  counsels  them  not  to  marry,  if  they  can  contain,  but  docs  not 
enjoin  it,  has  these  words  :  "  But  and  if  you  marry  thou  hast  not  sin- 
ned ;  and  if  a  virgin  marry  she  hath  not  sinned :  nevertheless,  such, 
shall  have  tribulation  by  the  flesh  :  but  I  spare  you.  But  this  I  say, 
brethren,  the  time  is  short :  it  remaineth  that  both  they  that  have 
wives  be  as  though  they  had  none  ;  and  they  that  weep,  as  though 
they  wept  not ;  and  they  that  rejoice,  as  though  they  rejoiced  not; 
and  they  that  buy,  as  though  they  possessed  not ;  and  they  that  use 
this  world,  as  not  abusing  it :  for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth 
away."  It  therefore  remains  for  all  those  worldly  customs  to  cease 
from  the  Church. 

And  to  complete  the  mortification  and  destruction  of  the  pride  of 
the  human  heart,  the  last  appearing  of  Christ,  to  make  an  end  of  sin, 
is  in  a  woman,  from  whom  the  world  never  expected  any  thing,  ex- 
cept what  would  be  consistent  with  the  low  grade  in  which  they  had 
placed  her  for  the  lust  of  concupiscence.  But  the  Lord  has  looked 
on  her  in  her  low  estate,  and  has  remembered  his  covenant  and  his 
promise  :  "  For  thy  Maker  is  thine  husband  ;  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his 
name  ;  and  thy  Redeemer  is  the  Holy  One  of  Israel :  The  God  of  the 
whole  earth  shall  he  be  called.  For  the  Lord  hath  called  thee  as  a 
woman  forsaken,  and  grieved  in  spirit,  and  a  wife  of  youth,  when  thou 
wast  refused,  saith  thy  God.  For  a  small  moment  have  I  forsaken 
thee  ;  but  with  great  mercies  will  I  gather  thee.  In  a  little  wrath  I 
hid  my  face  from  thee  for  a  moment  5  but  with  everlasting  kindness 
will  I  have  mercy  on  thee,  saith  the  Lord  thy  Redeemer" — "  For 
more  are  the  children  of  the  desolate  than  the  children  of  the  married 
wife,  saith  the  Lord."  (Isa.  liv.  5-8,  1.  And  again:  "  How  long 
wilt  thou  go  about,  O  thou  backsliding  daughter  .^"  (as  in  the  days  of 
the  Church's  apostacy  ;  the  result  of  which  was  to  deprive  the  woman 
of  what  little  she  had  gained  by  obedience  in  the  first  dispensation,  and 
sink  her  again  to  that  inferior  stage  of  slavery  to  which  the  world 
have  degraded  her,  while  they  adore  her  as  a  god,  because  of  her  wil- 
ling subjection,  to  which  she  is  reduced  for  the  purposes  of  the  flesh, 
and  for  no  other  reason,)  "  for  the  Lord  hath  created  a  new  thing  in 
the  earth,  A  woman  shall  compass  a  man." 

This  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  Mother  with  great  exactness  ;  who 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  475 

was  enabled  by  tbe  gift  of  God  wliicb  was  in  her  to  compass  tbe  wbole 
of  man's  nature,  and  to  show  him  his  fall  and  all  his  works  wherein 
he  had  gone  away  from  the  true  Gospel  of  Christ.  This  was  a  new 
thing  which  the  world  had  never  seen  and  never  espected.  And  I 
cannot  feel  reconciled  to  pass  over  this  opportunity  without  obviating 
a  deceptive  construction,  now  an  evasive  turn  given  to  this  phrase, 
A  woman  shall  compass  a  man.  It  is  commonly  understood,  and  no 
doubt  justly,  as  a  prophecy  of  the  coming  of  Christ ;  and  being  igno- 
rant of  the  order  of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  men  have  applied 
it  to  the  extraordinary  conception  by  Mary,  as  of  the  same  import 
with,  A  virgin  shall  be  with  child,  understanding  compass  as  tanta- 
mount with  avoid  or  not  use.  But  that  acceptation  is  evidently  con- 
trary to  the  universal  use  of  that  word,  and  subverts  the  natural  force 
of  that  prophecy.  The  word  compass  means  to  surround,  encircle  or 
enclose,  either  for  good  or  evil,  and  includes  the  comprehending  or 
possessing  of  the  thing  compassed.  Thus  the  Psalmist :  "  For  thou, 
Lord,  wilt  bless  the  righteous  :  with  favour  wilt  thou  compass  him  as 
with  a  shield."  (Psa.  v.  12.)  And  the  prophet :  "  For  the  wicked 
doth  compass  about  the  righteous  ;  therefore  wrong  judgment  pro- 
ceedeth."  (Hab.  i.  4.)  So  said  Jesus:  "And  when  ye  shall  see 
Jerusalem  compassed  [environed  or  besieged]  with  armies,  then  know 
that  the  destruction  thereof  is  nigh."  (Luke  xxi.  20.)  So,  A  woman 
shall  compass,  environ  or  comprehend,  a  man,  and  take  him  by  the  gift 
of  God  ;  for  the  Lord,  has  created  it.  Has  not  God  chosen  the  foolish 
of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise,  and  the  weak  to  confound  the 
mighty. 

Now  that  it  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  character  and  order  of 
Christ,  to  be  first  revealed  in  the  male  and  then  in  the  female,  and 
that  both  these  revelations  are  of  one  Christ,  is  farther  evinced  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Neither  is  the  man  without  the  woman,  neither  the  woman 
without  the  man,  in  the  Lord."  Thus  it  was  in  Adam  who  was  the 
figure  of  him  who  was  to  come,  that  is  confessedly,  of  Christ.  And 
as  Adam  was  created  male  and  female,  they  were  both  one  :  "  In  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him  ;  male  and  female  created  he  them  ; 
and  called  their  name  Adam,  in  the  day  when  they  were  created." 
But  the  woman  did  not  exist  separately,  and  was  not  known  in  her 
order  for  some  time.  And  even  after  she  stood  in  her  separate  order, 
they  were  one,  particularly  as  they,  or  he,  was  the  figure  of  him  who 
was  to  come,  which  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  present  inquiry.  For 
it  is  not  disputed  that  the  woman  was  first  in  the  transgression,  and 
therefore  by  her  sin  first  had  its  entrance  into  the  human  race.  "  And 
Adam  was  not  deceived ;  but  the  woman,  being  deceived,  was  in  the 
transgression."  "  She  took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat ;  and 
gave  also  to  her  husband,  with  her,  and  he  did  eat."  (1  Tim.  ii.  14  ; 
Gen.  iii.  6.)  But  when  the  similitude  is  drawn  by  the  Apostle,  be- 
tween Christ  and  Adam,  the  introduction  of  sin  is  imputed  to  one 
man,  even  to  Adam,  as  explicitly  as  the  introduction  of  righteousness 
to  one  man,  Jesus  Christ.  "  Wherefore  as  by  one  man  sin  entered 
into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin  ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men, 
for  that  all  have  sinned ;  (For  if  through  the  offence  of  one  many  be 
dead;  much  more  the  grace  of  God  and  the  gift  by  grace,  by  one 
man,  Jesus  Christ,  hath  abounded  to  many.)     Therefore  as  by  the 


476  ON  THE  REVELATION  OP  CHRIST. 

offence  of  one  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation  ;  even 
SO  by  the  righteousness  of  one  the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men  to  jus- 
tification of  life."  (Rom.  v.  12,  15,  18.)  If  then  Adam  was  the 
figure  or  type  of  Christ,  it  comes  out  straight,  that  the  man  is  not 
without  the  woman,  neither  the  woman  without  the  man  in  the  Lord 
Christ,  notwithstanding  that  Christ  is  one.  For  it  cannot  be  that  the 
figure  should  be  more  perfect  than  the  substance,  the  type  than  the 
antitype,  or  the  order  of  nature  than  the  order  of  grace  ;  but  the  anti- 
type must  fill  the  type  in  all  its  material  parts,  to  be  perfect,  however 
superior  in  quality  and  real  worth,  as  it  is  always  expected  of  the 
antitype  to  be  superior  in  point  of  value.  "  For  this  cause  shall  a 
man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  be  joined  to  his  wife,  and 
they  two  shall  be  one  flesh.  This  is  a  great  mystery  :  but  I  speak 
concerning  [in  or  towards]  Christ  and  concerning  the  Church." 
(Eph.  V.  31,  32.)  This  then,  of  the  two  being  one,  is  properly  a 
figure  of  Christ  and  the  Church.  "  I  speak  concerning  Christ  and 
concerning  the  Church."  As  therefore  Christ  is  two  in  one,  or  one 
revealed  in  two,  the  male  and  the  female,  which  two  become  one  in 
him,  even  one  Spirit,  so  are  the  two,  the  male  and  the  female,  united 
in  the  Church  in  one  Spirit.  Accordingly  the  man  Jesus  forsook  his 
father  and  his  mother  according  to  the  flesh,  and  immediately  clave 
to  his  spiritual  relation,  and  correspondent  Spirit  in  the  Church. 
"  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business,  [or  at  my 
Father's.?"]  (Luke  ii.  49;  see  Doddridge  on  the  text.)  And  who 
is  my  mother  and  who  are  my  brethren  .?  Whosoever  shall  do  the 
will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother  and  sister 
and  mother.  (Matt.  xii.  49.)  And  we  have  no  account  that  he  ever 
called  those  earthly  reputed  parents  either  father  or  mother,  but  show- 
ed in  all  things  that  all  his  kindred  were  of  another  order.  And  as 
in  the  natural  creation,  the  man  should  leave  his  father  and  mother  and 
be  joined  to  his  wife,  the  same  also  applies  to  the  woman.  So  like- 
wise in  the  spiritual  family.  Accordingly,  Mother  forsook  her  father 
and  her  mother  and  was  joined  to  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Spirit ;  for 
whom  she  forsook  all,  and  sufi"ered  the  loss  of  all  things,  as  it  is  writ- 
ten of  her  :  "  Hearken,  0  daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline  thine 
ear  ;  forget  also  thine  own  people,  and  thy  father's  house  ;  so  shall 
the  king  greatly  desire  thy  beauty  ;  for  he  is  thy  Lord ;  and  worship 
thou  him." 

Thus  it  is  evident  and  intelligible  that"  neither  is  the  man  without 
the  woman,  neither  the  woman  without  the  man,  in  the  Lord.  For 
as  the  woman  is  of  the  man,  even  so  is  the  man  also  by  the  woman  ; 
but  all  things  of  God."  Adam  indeed  was  not  by  the  woman,  but 
Jesus  was ;  for  he  was  born  of  a  woman  into  the  world.  But  as  the 
woman  was  of  the  man,  according  to  the  work  of  God  in  the  natural 
creation,  for  he  had  been  alive  for  some  time,  and  had  fallen  into  a 
deep  sleep,  which  put  him  past  the  order  and  power  of  sensation,  and 
the  performance  of  the  actions  of  life  for  a  time  ;  so  was  the  spii'itual 
woman,  called  the  Queen,  or  the  Bride  the  Lamb's  wife,  of  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  after  he  had  been  alive  in  the  power  of  his  Spirit,  and 
had  fallen  into  a  deep  sleep  ;  that  is,  the  Spirit,  as  to  the  proper  order 
and  power  of  spiritual  life  and  salvation,  had  been  removed  from  his 
body  the  Church.      Out  of  that  body  was  this  woman  taken,  and  in- 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  477 

dued  with  that  same  spiritual  life  which  had  been  in  that  body  before, 
even  Christ,  and  thus  became  one  with  him,  as  the  first  woman  was 
indued  with  the  same  animal  life  and  rationality  of  soul  which  ex- 
isted in  the  first  Adam,  and  was  one  with  him  as  already  shown. 

It  has  been  commonly  understood  that  the  Church  is  called  the 
Bride  the  Lamb's  wife,  and  that  the  term  or  relation  consists  in  the 
union  which  subsists  between  Christ  and  the  Church,  as  he  is  her  Sa- 
viour, and  she  is  a  partaker  of  his  Spirit.  This  union  or  relation  is 
not  to  be  denied  ;  but  this  alone  by  no  means  fills  up  the  prophecies 
on  that  subject.  If  the  Church  is  called  the  Bride,  the  same  Church 
is  also  called  Christ,  and  also  his  body.  "  And  all  the  members  of 
that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body  ;  so  also  is  Christ."  (1  Cor. 
xii.  12;  see  also  Reply,  p.  19.)  And  every  body  has  its  head  ;  Jesus 
Christ  therefore  is  the  head  of  that  body  which  is  the  Church,  and  is 
called  Christ ;  as  says  the  Apostle  :  "  and  he  is  the  head  of  the  bo- 
dy, the  Church."  (Col.  i.  18.)  And  if  we  view  the  Church  in  the 
line  of  the  female  or  Bride,  it  is  still  necessary  that  this  Bride  or  body 
have  a  head.  Accordingly,  it  is  recorded  in  Scripture  of  the  King 
and  Queen,  as  being  united  in  one.  "  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever 
and  ever  ;  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom  is  a  right  sceptre.  Thou  lov- 
est  righteousness,  and  hatest  wickedness :  therefore  God,  even  thy 
God,  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows. 
Upon  thy  right  hand  did  stand  the  Queen,  [in  the  Hebrew,  Bride,  or 
wife,]  in  gold  of  Ophir.  The  King's  daughter  is  all  glorious  within  : 
her  clothing  is  of  wrought  gold.  She  shall  be  brought  to  the  King 
in  raiment  of  needle-work  :  the  virgins  her  companions  that  follow 
her  shall  be  brought  to  thee.  With  gladness  and  rejoicing  shall  they 
be  brought :  they  shall  enter  into  the  King's  palace.  Instead  of  thy 
fathers  shall  be  thy  children,  whom  thou  mayest  make  princes  in  all 
the  earth."  (Psa.  xlv.  6,  &c.)  Now  it  will  readily  be  granted  that 
the  King's  Son  who  is  anointed  King,  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God  ;  for  the  Apostle  expressly  applies  this  prophecy  to  him,  saying, 
"  But  to  the  Son  he  saith.  Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  forever  and  ever  : 
a  sceptre  of  righteousness  is  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom."  (Heb. 
i.  8.)  But  who  is  the  King's  daughter,  called  to  be  the  Queen,  or 
King's  bride  ?  If  it  be  said,  she  is  the  Church ;  it  may  be  asked. 
Does  the  Church  mean  all  the  members,  or  only  a  part  ?  Unquestion- 
ably the  whole.  Then  who  are  the  virgins  the  companions  of  the 
Queen,  who  are  with  her  brought  safe  into  the  palace  of  the  King  ? 
From  these  things  it  is  plain  that  there  is  a  female  head,  a  Bride,  or 
Queen,  in  the  Church,  as  well  as  a  male,  and  that  those  virgins  who 
follow  that  female  head,  are  brought  safe  to  the  king  §,nd  into  the 
kingdom.  And  who  are  these  virgins  but  believers,  the  spiritual  chil- 
dren of  these  spiritual  parents  .?  Thus  far  then,  I  have  shown  the  way 
clearly,  that  Mother  is  the  chosen  of  God  to  reveal  Christ  to  the 
world  the  second  time  ;  and  that  there  is  safety  in  following  her  and 
obeying  her  testimony,  for  all  are  brought  safe  to  Christ ;  and  because 
he  is  her  Lord  and  theirs,  they  all  worship  him  with  gladness  and  re- 
joicing. Thus  Christ  came  in  his  glory,  according  to  his  promise  ; 
for  the  woman  is  the  glory  of  the  man,  and  showeth  forth  his  glory 
and  power,  even  as  the  man,  especially  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  is  the 
image  and  glory  of  God.     And  being  revealed  in  the  woman,  he  im- 


478  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

mediately  fills  Ms  parental  order  with  her,  and  becomes  a  Father,  and 
has  children,  whom  he  may  make  princes  in  all  the  earth  ;  as  again 
written:  ''  And  [thou]  hast  made  us  to  our  God  kings  and  priests  ; 
and  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth."  And  in  this  order  his  name  be- 
comes universally  known  and  honoured,  as  it  is  added  :  "  I  will  make 
thy  name  to  be  remembered  in  all  generations  ;  therefore  shall  the 
people  praise  thee  [or  as  in  the  Hebrew,  confess  to  thee]  forever  and 
ever."     (Rev.  v.  10  ;  Psa.  xlv.   17.) 

But  it  has  been  asked  by  way  of  objection ;  If  Jesus  Christ  is 
revealed  the  second  time  in  a  woman,  as  coheiress  with  him  in  the 
kino-dom,  why  did  he  not  take  one  who  had  never  sinned,  or  lived  ac- 
cording to  the  corruption  of  fallen  nature  .''  Or  why  did  she  have  to 
confess  her  sins  when  she  first  united  herself  to  the  people  who  were 
lookino-  for  him  .'  But  the  ways  of  God  are  not  as  man's  ways.  It  is 
the  way  of  God  and  of  Christ  to  stoop  to  the  lost  and  to  those  who 
need  redemption.  And  the  confessing  of  her  sins  in  the  order  and  gift 
of  God,  which  had  been  established  among  the  people  of  God  before 
she  came,  only  shows  the  greater  likeness  to  her  Lord,  when  he  first 
entered  on  the  ministry;  who  having  no  sin  to  confess,  nor  any  thing 
of  which  to  repent,  (because  it  was  necessary  that  the  first  foundation 
pillar,  who  was  to  connect  the  Church  to  be  redeemed,  with  God  the 
head  of  all  and  the  fountain  of  purity,  should  keep  that  union  unsul- 
lied,) went  to  John  and  was  baptized  of  him,  in  the  baptism  of  repent- 
ance and  the  confession  of  sins,  saying  :  Thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill 
all  righteousness,  and  was  thus  set  apart  by  John,  according  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  God  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  the  work  which 
he  came  to  fulfill.  But  he  had  his  Bride  to  redeem  out  of  the  fallen 
nature  and  works  of  the  common  mass,  and  to  call  away  from  her 
father's  house  and  the  people  of  her  kindred,  as  stated  above,  by  that 
same  arm,  or  power,  which  brought  salvation  to  him,  and  kept  him  pure 
from  that  fallen  nature  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  common  mass,  of 
which  he  partook  and  in  which  he  was  tempted.  When  he  stood 
alone,  and  trode  the  wine-press  alone,  and  of  the  people  there  was 
none  with  him.  And  he  gained  access  to  the  throne  of  God,  or  to  the 
mercy-seat,  in  his  own  person,  when  there  was  no  intercessor,  no 
Mediator  before  him  ;  none  to  help  him.  Thus  he  overcame  the  world 
and  all  evil,  and  sat  down  with  God,  as  the  first  foundation  pillar  in 
the  new  creation,  the  first  medium  of  access  for  all  others  ;  the  first 
leader  and  perfecter  of  faith.  "  And  he  saw  that  there  was  no  man, 
and  wondered  that  there  was  no  intercessor;  therefore  his  arm  brought 
salvation  to  him,  and  his  righteousness  it  sustained  him."  "  Though 
he  was  a  Son,  yet  learned  he  obedience  by  the  things  which  he  sufi"ered  ; 
and  beino-  made  perfect,  he  became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to 
all  them  that  obey  him."  Therefore  she  who  was  called  of  God  to  be 
first  in  the  line  of  the  female,  having  the  works  of  the  fallen  nature, 
actually  confessed  her  sins,  and  took  up  her  cross  against  all  sin  in 
nature  as  well  as  works,  according  to  the  gift  and  appointment  of  God 
in  this  last  day,  and  thus  in  the  fulfilling  of  all  righteousness,  received 
the  same  Spirit  and  became  united  with  him  who  lived  in  human  nature 
without  sin,  and  was  thus  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  everlasting  Gos- 
pel of  Christ's  second  appearing. 

This  is  the  woman,  to  whom  the  promise  is  fulfilled,  with  good  wit- 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  479 

ness  :  "  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between 
tby  seed  and  her  seed  ;  it  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise 
his  heel."  The  first  woman  was  not  the  one  ;  for  she  was  the  first 
transgressor  ;  and  her  seed  are  the  seed  of  the  serpent  whom  she 
obeyed.  "  Ye  are  of  your  father,  the  devil,  and  his  lusts  ye  will  do." 
Some  may  account  Mary,  the  reputed  mother  of  Christ,  the  woman. 
But,  according  to  what  she  said,  that  all  nations  should  call  her  blessed, 
so  it  came  to  pass  ;  there  is  no  special  enmity  of  the  serpent  against 
her ;  she  did  not  bring  forth  the  promised  seed,  but  only  the  taberna- 
cle in  which  he  dwelt  for  a  time,  in  the  line  of  the  male.  For  the 
MAN,  who  is  the  head  of  the  woman  and  of  the  whole  body,  must  of 
necessity  be  first,  that  the  woman,  coming  after,  may  be  subject  in  her 
own  lot.  The  seed  of  the  woman  is  very  correctly  granted  to  be 
Christ  ;  and  thus  it  comes  to  pass,  that  as  she  led  the  way  into  sin, 
she  is  called  of  God  to  lead  the  way,  and  bear  the  burden  and  suffer 
the  persecution  of  the  serpent,  in  making  afinal  end  of  sin  in  the  Church 
of  God. 

Now  while  the  enmity  between  the  serpent  and  the  woman,  and  be- 
tween his  seed  and  her  seed,  remains,  it  is  unavoidable,  that  the  nearer 
any  people  come  to  the  footsteps  of  the  tru.e  seed,  which  is  Christ,  the 
more  the  enmity  will  be  raised  against  them  ;  and  when  any  come  to 
walk  correctly  in  his  steps,  the  enmity  of  the  serpent  and  his  seed  will 
come  to  the  highest  pitch.     And  herein  the  wicked  world,  but  espe- 
cially the  professors,  are  our  witnesses,  however  much  against  their 
intentions,  that  we  are  the  true  seed,  the  real  body,  the  Church,  of 
which  Christ  is  the  head,  and  our  Mother,  the  woman  of  the  promise. 
This  is  THE  WOMAN  against  whom  the  enmity  of  all  men,  under  th^ 
influence  of  nature,  is  most  deeply  rooted;  not  as  a  looman,  but  as  a 
looman  devoted  to  the  life  of  Christ;  because,  by  the  living  testimony 
of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  through  her,  their  worldly  glory  and  honour, 
their  pride,  and  their  fleshly  lusts  are  cut  oif ;  and  this  they  count 
ruin.     As  a  young  man,  not  long  ago,  said  :   (as  I  was  told  by  his  fa- 
ther, and  with  Paul,  I  at  least  partly  believe  it ;  for  it  was  a  very  na- 
tural and  probable  saying,  and  represents  the  spirit  of  the  world  to  an 
exactness  ;)   "  If  there  are  a  people  of  God  on  the  earth,  these  are  the 
people  ;  and  they  will  ruin  our  family.     My  father  is  sure  to  go  with 
them,  and  my  sister  is  sure  to  go  with  them  ;  and  they  will  ruin  our 
family."     This  is  the  woman  of  whom  your  brother  in  the  ministry 
is  reported  to  have  exclaimed  :   "  That  woman-God  my  soul  abhors." 
This  he  pretended  was  because  she  was  owned  and  worshipped  as  God  ; 
but  that  was  a  lying  affectation.     A  woman-god  is  his  soul's  delight ; 
a  woman  devoted  to  the  sacrifices  of  the  flesh  and  addicted  to  receive 
them.     According  to  the  words  of  the  old  ceremony  :  "  With  my  body 
I  thee  worship."     But  the  true  source  of  his  abhorrence  of  that  icoman^ 
is  the  same  in  him  as  in  all  other  men  of  nature  ;   (though  many  are 
more  modest  and  gentlemanly  than  to  give  it  full  vent ;)  because  she 
was  a  worshipper  of  the  living  God  and  his  Christ,  a  follower  and 
helper  with  Christ  in  the  work  of  the  regeneration,  and  the  woman, 
who  is  the  head,  in  the  female  line,  of  his  body  the  Church  ;  being  the 
Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife,  and  by  whom,  in  that  relation,  the  man-child 
is  brought  forth,  "  who  was  to  rule  the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron" — 
"  thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron  ;  thou  shalt  dash  them  in 


480  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel."  Not  by  tyranny  nor  cruelty  ;  but  with 
the  power  and  edge  of  trutli.  No  usurpation  in  Christ  or  in  his  Church. 
You  have  called  the  man-child,  truth  ;  I  feel  no  disposition  to  contra- 
dict you — Christ  is  the  truth. 

This  is  THE  WOMAN,  against  whom  the  enmity  of  all  women  in  na- 
ture, and  living  after  the  course  of  the  world,  is  strained  to  the  high- 
est pitch  ;  because,  by  the  living  testimony  of  Christ,  through  her  and 
her  seed,  their  earthly  consequence,  glory,  and  honour  ;  the  carnal 
worship  paid  to  them ;  the  sensual  pleasures  and  glory  of  this  world 
and  the  kingdoms  of  it,  are  all  cut  off.  They  frequently  cry  out,  that 
they  wUl  be  ruined,  and  that  their  children  will  be  ruined,  and  their 
souls  be  lost.  But  this  is  an  artful  pretext  to  preserve  the  flesh — a 
deceptive  affectation.  For  as  soon  as  the  sacrifices  of  the  flesh  are 
restored,  or  secured,  their  great  concern  for  the  salvation  of  their 
children,  or  themselves  either,  is  of  little  force — it  soon  abates.  No 
great  lamentation  for  the  want  of  salvation  to  their  own  souls  or  those 
of  their  children  ;  no  great  labour  to  obtain  it,  is  found  among  women 
more  than  men,  where  none  of  them  are  likely  to  confess  and  forsake 
their  sins,  and  follow  Christ  in  the  faith  of  his  second  appearing.  Not 
much  matter  how  ungodly  they  are,  provided  they  are  prosperous  in 
the  glory,  the  honours  and  pleasures  of  this  world.  But  the  true 
cause  of  the  enmity  and  offence  of  women  in  nature,  against  the  testi- 
mony of  Christ  in  his  second  appearing,  is,  that  if  they  and  their  chil- 
dren receive  it,  Christ  will  get  them  ;  and  then  they  must  follow  him 
and  not  Adam  ;  for  in  Christ  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  mar- 
riage. And  this  being  the  case,  the  glory  of  this  world  and  of  the 
kingdoms  thereof,  is  cut  down  and  withereth.  Woe  to  them  that  are 
with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck  in  those  days  ;  and  they  that  beget 
are  not  exempt.  Finally  here  :  Women  who  are  diffiiculted  and  in 
trouble,  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  therefore  not  so  chargeable  as  others 
with  the  ungodly  temper  above  described,  are  moderate  and  teach- 
able ;  and  never  afraid  to  converse  freely  with  the  believers  in  Christ's 
second  appearing,  who  are  called  Shakers;  never  boisterous,  never 
commanding  or  authoritative  over  their  husbands.  For  the  man  or 
the  woman  who  is  afraid  to  converse  with  these  believers,  or  is  bois- 
terous and  unruly,  is  governed  by  the  enmity  of  the  serpent  against 
the  woman  and  her  seed.     But  again  : 

This  revelation  of  Christ  the  second  time,  in  the  line  of  the  female, 
is  also  by  believers  considered  as  the  revelation  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  her  proper  order  and  character,  as  the  Mother  of  Jesus  the  Son  of 
God,  and  of  his  Bride,  and  through  them,  of  all  believers  ;  as  well  as 
of  the  whole  creation,  both  old  and  new.  As  God  in  the  relation  of 
Father,  is  the  fountain  and  spring  of  all  power,  and  the  original  source 
of  all  being,  and  from  whom  is  the  Word,  or  seed,  by  which  all  things 
are  made,  or  generated,  so  may  the  Holy  Ghost  be  considered  as  the 
corresponding  relation  or  power  in- God,  through  whom  the  Word, 
which  is  the  united  operation  or  going  forth,  of  the  two,  has  its  effect, 
to  the  orderly  production  of  all  things.  Thus  :  "  In  the  beginning 
God  created  [or  procreated]  the  heaven  and  the  earth.  And  the 
earth  was  without  form  and  void  ;  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face 
of  the  deep  :  and  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  [in  the  Hebrew,  sat,  or 
brooded]  upon  the  face  of  the  waters."  (Gen.  i.  1,  2.)     After  which 


ON  THE  EEVELATION  OF  CHRIST.  481 

the  various  parts  of  creation  were  distinctly  brought  forth  in  order  as 
the  power  and  Word  of  God  called  them  out.  "  And  God  said,  Let 
there  be  light :  and  there  was  light."  Farther  :  "  And  God  said,  Let 
us  make  man  in  our  own  image,  after  our  likeness,"  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  three,  two  being  equal  to  that  manner  of  language.  And 
when  the  work  came  forth  according  to  the  proposal,  it  consisted  in 
two,  not  in  three  :  and  these  two  were  one.  "  So  God  created  [or 
procreated*]  man  in  his  image  :  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him; 
male  and  female  created  he  them;  and  blessed  them,  and  called  their 
name  Adam,  in  the  day  when  they  were  created."  And  with  respect 
to  the  new  creation,  of  whom  Christ  Jesus  is  the  beginning,  it  is  writ- 
ten :  "  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  [to  enable  thee  to  con- 
ceive,] and  the  power  of  the  highest  shall  overshadow  thee  ;  [by 
which  power  thou  shalt  conceive  ;]  therefore  also,  that  Holy  One,  when 
born,  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God,"  as  being  begotten  of  the  Fa- 
ther, and  conceived  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  as  is  evident  afterwards, 
(Matt.  i.  20.)  "  That  which  is  conceived  in  [not  by]  her  is  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  by  whom  it,  was  conceived,  and  deposited  with  Mary,  to 
be  endowed  with  a  body  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood  with  those  who 
were  to  be  saved,  and  that  he  who  sanctifies  and  they  who  are  sancti- 
fied might  be  all  of  one.  And  there  were  evidently  two  co-operatina; 
in  the  generation  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  without  considering  Mary 
as  having  any  part  in  it ;  as  she  evidently  had  not,  the  whole  matter 
being  entirely  beyond  the  sphere  and  power  of  natural  generation ; 
although  the  material  body  which  he  inhabited  was  formed  of  her  sub- 
stance, in  the  ordinary  line  of  physical  production. 

On  this  subject  I  shall  be  as  concise  as  I  can  to  comport  with 
plainness,  as  it  is  mainly  known  and  understood  by  the  revelation  in 
the  present  dispensation,  and  because  there  is  already  such  a  clear 
and  explicit  publication  made.  The  knowledge  and  understanding 
of  this  particular,  depending  on  the  revelation  of  the  present  day, 
are  not  so  likely  to  be  received,  except  by  those  who  have  faith  in  the 
existing  testimony,  or  are  possessed  of  more  than  ordinary  candour 
and  simple  intelligence.  But  to  such  it  will  appear  plain,  according 
to  the  Scriptures,  that  there  was  yet  something  material  to  be  reveal- 
ed in  the  character  of  God,  which  Jesus  did  not  make  known.  For 
though  he  revealed  God  in  the  relation  of  Father,  he  did  not  show 
him  outfully  in  that  relation  :  Therefore  he  says,  "  These  things  have  I 
spoken  to  you  in  proverbs  :  but  the  time  cometh  when  I  will  no  more 
speak  to  you  in  proverbs,  but  I  shall  show  you  plainly  of  the  Father  ;" 
and  again  :  "  But  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when 
he  shall  begin  to  sound,  and  the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  finished." 
(Jno.  xvi.  25,  and  Rev.  x.  7.)  Thus  the  mystery  of  God,  and  of  the 
Father  and  of  Christ,  which  began  to  be  opened  in  the  first  appearing 
of  Christ,  remained  to  be  finished  when  the  seventh  ano-el  should  begin 

*  It  may  be  expedient  to  advertise  the  unlearned  reader,  the  learned  I  need 
not,  that  [x^j]  the  word  here  used,  is  not  that  which  is  commonly  used  to  ex- 
press the  direct  procreation  of  men,  [that  word  is  i'?',  iled,]  but  is  handed  down 
as  having  the  above  acceptation  in  ancient  days  ;  and  it  aptly  expresses  the 
work  of  God  in  producing  the  whole  creation  by  his  own  power  and  energy, 
without  the  aid  of  any  other.  It  is  also  an  acceptation  well  adapted  to  express 
the  coming  forth  of  the  creation  in  order,  and  of  men  in  the  image  of  God. 
32 


482  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

to  sound,  so  that  it  might  be  understood  in  the  progress  of  the  work 
from  the  beginning,  and  believers  be  built  up  in  that  knowledge.  And 
nothing  can  be  more  consistent  and  according  to  order,  than  the 
idea  of  a  twofold  corresponding  relation  in  God,  as  exhibited  in  his 
creation,  called  Father  and  Holy  Ghost,  or  Mother,  as  the  source 
from  whence  Christ  in  his  first  and  second  appearance,  or  the  Son  and 
the  Daughter,  should  spring  and  come  forth,  to  be  in  their  proper  lot 
and  corresponding  relation,  the  joint  visible  parentage  of  the  faithful 
family  of  God.  Nothing  can  be  better  in  order  than  that  the  King's 
Son,  who  is  anointed  King,  and  the  Queen,  or  Bride,  who  stood  on 
his  right  hand,  who  forsook  all  for  him  whom  she  worships,  and  who  is 
brought  into  his  palace  with  the  virgins  who  abide  there  for  ever,  as 
on  the  day  of  his  marriage,  according  to  what  is  again  written,  "  The 
marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come  and  his  Bride  hath  made  herself  ready  ;" 
I  say,  nothing  can  be  better  in  order  than  that  these  should  be  the 
Son  and  Daughter  of  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  one  God,  and 
these  the  one  joint  parentage  of  the  Church  of  God,  in  which  there  is 
but  one  Spirit. 

But  was  not  the  Holy  Ghost  revealed  in  the  first  appearing  of 
Christ .''  As  God  was  revealed  to  men  before  the  coming  of  Christ  at 
all,  but  v/as  never  known  in  the  relation  of  a  Father  in  that  Spiiitual 
manner  in  which  he  is  revealed  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  so  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  made  known  in  the  first  appearing,  as  the  Spirit  of  truth,  and  the 
Spirit  of  promise,  by  which  Christ  dwelt  in  his  Church.  But  in  her 
corresponding  relation  to  the  Father,  as  a  Mother  having  children, 
she  was  never  fully  revealed  until  the  present  day.  In  this  day  the 
mystery  of  God  is  finished. 

An  argument  has  been  urged  against  this  doctrine.  That  the  phrase, 
Holy  Ghost,  in  the  Scripture  is  always  used  in  the  masculine  gender. 
And  what  then  ?  Because  the  term  Mather  and  he  are  applied  to  God 
as  being  masculine,  are  we  therefore  to  suppose  that  there  is  in  God  any 
thing  properly  and  essentially  masculine,  or  of  the  male,  as  in  man- 
kind .''  But  as  the  male  is  the  head,  and  has  always  been  accounted 
the  most  honourable  in  creation,  and  God  is  the  most  honourable  of 
all  beings,  and  the  head  over  all,  and  finally  as  he  is  called  the  Father, 
Ms  name  is  used  in  the  masculine.  And  when  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
named  as  being  the  Spirit  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  especially  when 
personified,  the  male  epithet  is  sometimes  used.  But  what  is  in  this 
to  make  the  feminine  improper,  when  the  Spirit  is  made  known  in  her 
proper  relation,  in  the  second  revelation  of  Christ  in  the  female,  even 
by  that  woman  who  said,  the  Word  dwelt  in  her.  Is  this  to  signify 
that  in  God  there  are  two  parts,  or  essentially  distinct  persons,  the 
male  and  the  female  ?  By  no  means  ;  these  are  all  relative  titles. 
But  these  various  and  corroborating  considerations  show,  that  in  God 
there  is  that  which  answers  to  these  relations,  that  is,  union  as  be- 
tween two,  and  correspondent  operations,  as  being  of  the  Father,  the 
fountain  of  power,  whence  all  things  originate,  and  the  Spirit  as  the 
Mother  of  all  creatures,  who  produces  all  by  the  same  Word  of  power 
as  the  co-operating  energy  of  the  two.  Accordingly,  the  Spiiit  of 
God  speaks  in  the  feminine,  by  the  title  of  Wisdom,  as  a  copartner 
and  companion  with  him,  and  of  co-eternal  existence,  saying;  "  The 
Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning  of  his  way,  before  his  wojks  of 


ON  THE  REVELATION  OF  CHRIST.  483 

old.  I  was  set  Tip  from  everlasting."  Of  which  hereafter.  But  you 
are  not  unacquainted  that  in  the  Greek  language  the  term,  Hohj  Ghost, 
is  neuter  gender,  and  therefore  equally  applicable  to  male  or  female, 
although  its  relative  or  concordant  words  are  sometimes  naasculine. 
These  are  also  different  times  translated  in  the  masculine  in  English, 
when  they  are  neuter  in  Greek.  It  is  furthermore  worthy  of  notice, 
that  in  the  Hebrew  the  term  Spirit  of  God  is  used  in  the  common 
gender,  which,  you  know,  includes  both  male  and  female.  If  there- 
fore the  male  epithet  has  been  commonly  u.sed  in  former  dispensations, 
the  adoption  of  the  female  in  this,  is  by  no  means  improper,  when 
her  appropriate  relation  and  works  are  made  known.  Besides  ;  In 
the  work  of  creation  the  term.  Spirit  of  God,  is  in  agreement  with 
a  feminine  participle,  by  vdiich  it  becomes  definitively  feminine,  and 
the  Spirit  is  represented  as  a  Mother  producing  all  things.  "  And 
the  Spirit  of  God  vms  brooding  on  the  face  of  the  waters.  And  God 
said,  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light."  This  agrees  with  the 
order  of  the  generation  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  beginning  of  the  new 
and  superior  creation.  These  things  show  that  these  epithets  greatly 
depend  on  the  idiom  of  languages,  and  the  conceptions  which  men 
have  of  the  relation  in  which  God  stands  towards  them.  At  the  same 
time  that  the  Scriptures  and  the  works  of  God  in  both  the  old  and 
new  creations  manifestly  teach,  that  the  male  and  the  female  are  the 
nearest  that  any  thing  can  come  to  that  incomprehensible  nature  of 
two  in  one,  which  is  in  God,  and  to  which  these  answer. 

So  much  being  said  of  the  two,  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
may  lead  to  an  inquiry  respecting  the  three,  who  are  said  to  be  one. 
"  For  there  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the 
Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost :  and  these  three  are  one."  We  also  read  of 
the  Word,  in  the  beginning  of  John's  record  of  the  Gospel:  "  In  the 
beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word 
was  God  :  the  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All  things  were 
made  by  him  ;  and  without  him  was  not  any  thing  made  which  was 
made.  And  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  amongst  us  (and  we 
beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  [from  or  by]  the 
Father,)  full  of  grace  and  truth."  This  being  the  Word  who  is  God, 
by  whom  all  things  were  made,  and  who  was  made  flesh,  or  clothed 
with  ifcj  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  God,  the  same  who  was 
revealed  in  him  in  whom  dwelt  the  fullness  of  the  Deity  bodily,  who 
is  Jesus  Christ.  This  Word  then  is  the  revelation  of  God,  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  or  it  is  God  revealed,  the  Word  of  revelation — 
the  manifestation  or  exhibition  of  the  power  and  energy  of  God,  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  as  when  God  said.  Let  it  be,  and  it  was, 
and  again.  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image  and  after  our  likeness — or 
it  is  God  operating  ;  for  by  him  all  things  were  made.  As  therefore 
the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  are  one,  the  Father  and  the  Word 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  are  also  one.  This  Word  is  Christ,  or  it  is  God 
dwelling  in  the  Son  by  the  gift  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  accord- 
ingly the  term  Son,  is  used  in  the  same  order  as  Word  ;  "  Go  ye,  there- 
fore, and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  Holy  Ghost  being 
named  last  in  order,  because  the  Father  and  the  Word,  and  the  Son, 
were  more  fully  revealed  in  that  day,  than  the  Holy  Ghost ;  of  whom 


484  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

notlimg  was  then  known  and  understood,  only  as  the  Spirit  of  promise, 
and  as  the  Spirit  of  God  in  general  terms,  the  Spirit  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  and  the  like  ;  but  nothing  cor- 
rectly as  to  her  correspondent  relation  to  the  Father  in  the  works  of 
creation,  both  old  and  new  ;  and  because  the  Father  and  the  Son  are  in 
the  line  of  the  male,  the  Father  being  revealed,  or  declared  by  the 
Son,  they  are  named  first  in  order,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  Daugh- 
ter, are  named  next  in  order.  In  the  mean  time  ;  as  the  Son  implies 
Father,  the  same  also  implies  Mother ;  as  Daughter  implies  Mother, 
the  same  also  implies  Father  ;  these,  therefore,  have  revealed  or  de- 
clared the  Father  and  the  Mother,  who  are  God,  the  Father  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  same  Word,  being  one  with  the  Father  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  is  revealed  in  them  both  ;  this  Word  is  Christ  in  his  first 
and  second  appearing  :   God  and  Christ  are  one. 

Little  as  was  understood  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  her  correspondent 
relation  to  the  Father,  in  Christ's  first  appearing,  some  Scriptures,  a 
part  of  which  I  have  already  noticed,  are  properly  applicable  to  this 
subject.  It  will  be  expedient  to  notice  a  few  more.  In  the  book  of 
the  Proverbs,  (viii.  22,  &c.)  the  Spirit  speaks  by  the  name  of  Wis- 
dom, saying,  "  The  Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning  of  his  way, 
before  his  works  of  old.  I  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  from  the  be- 
ginning, or  ever  the  earth  was.  When  there  were  no  depths  I  was 
brought  forth."  This  Scripture,  tradition  has  applied  to  the  Son, 
as  being  one  of  its  three  persons  in  Deity,  and  co-eternal  with  the 
Father  ;  but  as  co-eternal  and  co-essential  with  the  Father,  are  epi- 
thets never  applied  to  the  Son,  by  the  authority  of  revelation,  neither 
any  thing  tantamount,  there  is  no  reason  for  such  an  acceptation  of 
this  Scripture.  You  have  applied  it  to  the  Son  as  a  created  being. 
But  such  an  acceptation  appears  rather  forced,  and  the  language  too 
strong  to  apply  to  one  who  is  in  any  sense  a  created  being,  no  doubt 
as  strong  as  the  author  could  find  to  express  that  which  had  no  be- 
ginning. "  The  Lord  possessed  [not  created]  me  in  the  beginning 
of  his  way,  [before  he  had  made  any  thing,]  before  his  works  of  old," 
and  "  Then  I  was  by  him,  as  one  brought  up  with  him  :"  (as  though 
I  were  his  fellow  or  equal :  :idn  a  nurse  or  parent  of  the  same  power 
and  age.  See  Numb.  xi.  12  ;  Isa.  xlis.  23,  and  therefore  as  complete- 
ly everlasting  as  he.)  This  same  word,  which  is  translated  ania sing- 
father^  in  the  book  of  Moses,  "  As  a  nursing-father  beareth  a  sucking 
child,"  ought  rather  to  be  rendered  a  nnr sing-mother^  as  it  is  the  ap- 
propriate work  of  the  mother  to  nurse  the  sucking  child  ;  "  Thy  kings 
shall  be  nursing-fathers  and  thy  queens  nursing-mothers."  Accord- 
ingly, the  Seventy  have  translated  the  word  in  both  the  above  pas- 
sages by  a  word  [rf^'ivog]  which  is  definitively  feminine  ;  and  this  helps 
to  illustrate  the  idea  of  Wisdom  in  the  feminine,  as  the  co-essential 
and  co-eternal  One  with  the  Father,  and  therefore  as  being  the  same 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  "  And  I  was  daily  his  delight,  rejoicing  always 
before  him  ;  rejoicing  in  the  habitable  part  of  the  earth  ;  and  my  de- 
lights were  with  the  sons  of  men."  And  said  Jesus,  "  Wisdom  is  jus- 
tified of  all  her  children."  Wisdom  therefore  is  a  Mother  and  has 
children,  of  whom  Jesus  is  the  first-born,  and  all  the  rest  who  are 
younger  approve  her  work  and  justify  her  in  him.  I  do  not  intend 
to  insist  on  the  female  epithet  in  these  Scriptures,  the  term  Wisdom^ 


ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST.  485 

being  feminine  in  those  languages.  But  tliose  wlio  apply  that  passage 
in  the  Proverbs  to  Christ,  and  make  any  account  of  the  masculine  as 
applied  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  ought  at  least  to  remember,  that  if  Wis- 
dom in  that  place  means  Christ,  it  is  Christ  in  the  feminine  gender, 
and  therefore  the  idea  is  not  unfavourable  to  his  being  revealed  the 
second  time  in  the  female,  and  that  the  revelation  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  same,  is  a  perfectly  consistent  matter.  But  the  words  of  Jesus 
Christ  have  fixed  the  matter,  that  Wisdom  as  being  in  the  female  line, 
is  a  Mother  having  children  ;  which  perfectly  agrees  with  her  being 
the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Mother  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  after  having 
brought  him  forth  preserved  him  as  a  mother  does  her  son,  and  laid 
special  claim  to  him  after  his  baptism.  "  And  the  Holy  Ghost  de- 
scended in  a  bodily  shape,  like  a  dove,  upon  him,  and  a  voice  came 
from  heaven,  which  said.  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son  ;  in  thee  I  am 
well  pleased.  And  Jesus  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  returned  from 
Jordan,  and  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness,  being  forty  days 
tempted  by  the  devil ;"  but  was  safely  kept  until  he  returned  in  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  into  Galilee,  and  there  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was 
upon  him,  and  so  remained. 

And  thus  the  whole  subject  eventuates  according  to  the  words  of 
the  Lord  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah  :  "  Behold  the  days  come,  saith 
the  Lord,  that  I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous  Branch,  and  a  King 
shall  reign  and  prosper,  and  shall  execute  justice  and  judgment  in  the 
earth.  In  his  days  Judah  shall  be  saved  and  Israel  shall  dwell  safely  ; 
and  this  is  the  name  whereby  he  shall  be  called,  the  Lord  our  right- 
eousness." (Jer.  xxiii.  5,  6.  But  in  a  little  time  the  whole  land  is 
corrupted  and  desolate  ;  "  For  the  land  is  full  of  adulteries  ;  for  be- 
cause of  swearing  the  land  mourneth,  the  pleasant  plains  of  the  wil- 
derness are  dried  up  ;  and  their  course  is  evil,  and  their  force  is  not 
right.  For  both  prophet  and  priest  are  profane  ;  yea,  in  my  house 
have  I  found  their  wickedness,  saith  the  Lord."  The  abomination 
that  maketh  desolate,  in  the  holy  place,  where  it  ought  not  to  be — 
the  lawless  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God.  But  in  the  next  place,  as  of 
the  second  appearing  of  Christ  in  the  female  in  union  with  the  male, 
both  being  expressed  in  the  prophecy,  the  promised  blessing  was  never 
to  come  to  an  end.  "  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I 
will  perform  that  good  thing  which  I  have  promised  to  the  house  of 
Israel,  and  to  the  house  of  Judah.  In  those  days,  and  at  that  time, 
will  I  cause  the  Branch  of  righteousness  to  grow  up  unto  David  ;  and 
he  shall  execute  justice  and  righteousness  in.tlie  land.  In  those  days 
shall  Judah  be  saved,  and  Jerusalem  shall  dwell  safely  ;  and  this  is 
the  name  wherewith  she  shall  be  called.  The  Lord  our  righteousness  ;" 
and  this  is  followed  by  a  bold  account  of  the  everlasting  prosperity  of 
the  Church  of  God.  (Jer.  xxxiii.  14,  &c.)  Should  any  suppose  that 
the  Church,  or  Jerusalem,  is  the  she,  who  is  called  The  Lord  our 
RIGHTEOUSNESS,  let  such  cousidor,  that  by  parity  of  reason  Judah  or 
Israel  is  the  he,  who  is  so  called  in  the  former  prophecy  as  quoted 
above  ;  and  thus  by  excluding  the  Christ  or  Word,  from  the  charac- 
ter or  name  of  The  Lord  our  Righteousness,  in  the  female,  he  is  also 
excluded  from  that  honour  in  the  male.  For,  as  before  shown,  the 
Church  has  a  head  ;  and  if  in  the  first  instance,  the  term  he  be  used 
in  relation  to  that  head,  who  is  the  male,  it  is  as  natural  and  fair  a 


486  ON    THE    REVELATION    OF    CHRIST. 

construction  to  understand  the  term  she,  as  relating  to  tliat  head  who 
is  female,  in  the  second,  and  in  union  with  the  first.  Besides  ;  for 
the  Church  to  call  herself  The  Lord  our  Righteousness,  is  too  absurd 
to  be  admitted  by  people  of  liberal  information.  Nothing  therefore 
is  more  natural  and  easy,  according  to  the  plain  language  of  those 
prophecies,  as  well  as  the  revelation  of  the  present  day,  than  to 
understand  the  first  as  relating  to  the  first  appearing  of  Christ  in  the 
male  only,  and  the  second,  to  the  revelation  of  the  same  eternal  Word, 
or  Anointing  Spirit,  in  the  female,  in  union  and  corresponding  rela- 
tion to  the  male.  And  thus  it  is  finished  ;  that  as  the  woman  is  of 
the  man,  and  Mother  sprang  up  of  the  same  body,  in  the  same  faith 
and  Spirit  of  Christ,  God  causing  the  Branch  of  righteousness  which 
had  once  been  raised,  to  grow  up,  so  the  man  is  by  the  woman,  Christ 
the  same  eternal  Word,  or  Anointing,  being  again  revealed  in  her, 
while  she  acknowledged  him  as  her  Lord  and  head — the  head  of  the 
woman  is  the  man. 

Thus  I  have  stated  concisely,  according  to  the  Scriptures — that 
Christ  is  a  Spirit — that  his  being  revealed  or  coming  again  does  not 
require  the  vision,  or  appearance  of  that  material  body,  or  personali- 
ty, which  was  once  seen  among  the  people — that  he  was  to  come  in 
his  people,  or  Church — that  the  Church  has  a  head,  or  beginning — 
and  that  it  is  according  to  the  Scriptures,  that  this  beginning,  in  which 
the  second  revelation  should  commence,  should  be  a  woman — conse- 
quently all  reasonable  objections  against  Mother,  as  the  Anointed  of 
God  for  that  purpose,  are  obviated.  This  being  done,  every  reason- 
able man  is  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  the  testimony  as  it  stands.  And 
I  now  bring  my  long  epistle  to  a  close  ;  in  which  I  have  used  freedom 
with  a  few  parts  of  your  publications,  and  only  a  few,  as  I  had  no  in- 
tention of  noticing  the  whole.  And  although  I  have  passed  over  se- 
veral sentences  and  some  sentiments  which  I  could  not  adopt,  which 
would  have  led  into  discussions  more  extensive  than  convenient, 
many  other  parts  I  should  have  no  feeling  to  oppose,  as  being  written 
to  good  purpose,  and  containing  sentiments  which  I  most  cordially 
approve,  and  which  are  well  supported  by  divine  revelation. 

With  due  esteem  I  am  your  friend, 

JOHN  DUNLAVY. 

Pleasant  Hill,  November  4,  1815. 


C 


